NEW ERA: WELCOME TO VLADIVOSTOK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201760003-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 19, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: March 14, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

S1, Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201760003-6
7
ueniu
New Era: Welcome to Vladivostok
Spy Satellites Made Soviet Far East Port's Secrecy Obsolete
ARTICLE APPEAD
.ne .L ~ I~
im-For almost 35 years, the Far
Pest Soviet port of Vladivostok has
been closed to nearly all foreigners
td protect the military secrets of its
liaciic fleet and air force.
w, however, in the spirit of
Sovet leader Mikhail S. Gorba-
cIlev's glasnost policy, Vladivostok
itabout to open its doors.
,A recent visit by a Los Angeles
Times reporter, the first visit by
ahy American journalist since 1975,
was one signal of the imminent
Change of policy.
Anyone arriving at Vladivostok's
ahf*vld can see Soviet fighter
Blanes and helicopters parked on
t$e tarmac, while warships swing-
ipg at anchor in the city's well-
ptotected harbor are equally visi-
ble.
:Soviet officials acknowledge that
U.S. spy satellites can gather more
intelligence than walk-in agents of
foreign governments, one reason
why security concerns no longer
By WILLIAM J. EATON, Times Staff Writer
'=VLADIVOSTOK, Soviet Un- - Ip December, 1974, Vladivostok
require barring visitors.
. At the same time, reopening the
city would advance Kremlin plans
for increasing Pacific trade and
speedier economic development of
the Soviet Far East.
Vladivostok, the major port for
receiving American lend-lease as-
$i stance during World War H. has
been closed to all but a handful of
foreigners since 1951, shortly after
the outbreak of the Korean War.
aq-the site of a Soviet-Amencan
.4 n it meeting at which Kremlin
leader Leonid I. Brezhnev and
President Gerald R. Ford agreed on
tl}e outlines of an arms limitation
treaty. American newsmen who
Accompanied Ford were confined
largely to their quarters.
-; The region has been regarded as
Ldghly sensitive. It is the site of
important military installations and
yt has significant oil-producing fa-
4lities. Vladivostok is headquar-
ters for the Soviet Far East fleet.
So sensitive is the region that in
geptember, 1963, when a Korean
Air Lines jetliner strayed off course
to the area, it was shot down by
pviet t fighters. All of the 269
people on board the plane, which
the Soviets accused of spying, were
killed.
?. According to Anatoly S. Gobovi-
*1, chairman of Vladivostok's mu-
dicipal executive committee, it was
(or security reasons alone that the
city was closed to visitors. But he
said in an interview, "We think
differently today."
besides," Gobovizin said, "de-
velopment of a major industrial and
/eientific center is no longer possi-
ble without international ties to
keep up with the latest in science
and technology.
Gorbachev, speaking in Vladi-
vostok last July, said he would like
to see the city become "our wide-
open window to the East." But he
linked a decision on removing
travel barriers to an improvement
in the overall political situation in
the Pacific region.
Since Gorbachev's speech, Vla-
divostok's gates have been opened
to an increasing number of foreign-
ers, Gobovizin said. Scientists from
the United States, China and West
European countries visited the city
for a day, he recalled, and Japanese
officials and reporters were al-
lowed in recently. A big trade fair,
with 40 Japanese firms expected to
take part, is scheduled for this
spring.
Because of its excellent harbor
and steep hills, Vladivostok re-
minds many visitors of San Fran-
cisco, although temperatures are
considerably lower here and the
harbor is iced over for two months
of the year.
Moreover, because of its loca-
tion-it is not far from China,
North Korea and Japan-Vladivos-
tok looks more to the outside world
than most Soviet cities do. Nissan
vans from Japan, men's shirts and
pants from China, running shoes
from North Korea-all are availa-
ble in the shops here.
The Soviet Union sells lumber,
coal, seafood and oil to Japan.
Trade with Japan, which started 20
years ago, is valued at $7.5 million a
year.
Trade with China, resumed six
years ago, is conducted through
border stations. The Soviets sell
refrigerators, cement, roofing ma-
terials and butter in return for
clothing and textiles, pork and
vegetables.
Ships based at Vladivostok call at
ports in 72 countries, and in the
coming years their cargoes will be
expanded, Gobovizin said.
"International communications
in the Pacific zone will be im-
proved," he went on. "The market
created by the Pacific states is very
considerable.... In my view, the
situation in the Pacific depends on
Soviet-American relations, which
have not reached the required
level."
On a recent day, Vladivostok's
harbor was jammed with Soviet
freighters. Gray-painted warships
were silhouetted against the early
morning fog, and dozens of fishing
ships lay at anchor across the bay.
Still, shore services are inade-
quate, Gorbachev said in his speech
last summer. He referred specifi-
cally to repair facilities, and added
that, "as a result, a considerable
proportion of our expensive [fish-
ing] fleet is lying idle."
Gorbachev also called for new
approaches to developing economic
ties with foreign countries, adding
that the Soviet Far East provinces
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201760003-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201760003-6
had an "extremely low share" of
Soviet exports in spite of their vast
potential.
Despite such criticism, Gorba-
chev was apparently delighted
with his first visit to the Vladivos-
tok area.
"You have such a wonderful
region-beautiful sea, unique natu-
ral setting," he said. "It's one of the
most remarkable cities of the coun-
try."
Vladivostok was founded in 1860
as a Russian military outpost and
now has a population of 630,000.
According to Gobovizin, three-
quarters of all the military equip-
ment sent to the Soviet Union in
World War II was landed here,
including lend-lease shipments
from the United States. Soviet
sailors remember those "good
years" of Soviet-American cooper-
ation, he added.
He said a decision to develop
Vladivostok was made after Pre-
mier Nikita S. Khrushchev visited
San Francisco in 1959.
"The two cities are very much
alike in layout and business activi-
ties,,, Gobovizin said. "But San
Francisco has no ice, and we have
plenty."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201760003-6