56 MAY-JUNE 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The consul general signed a U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) grant to fund a feasibility study for automating customs procedures. The National Democratic Institute organized a conference on democracy and private enterprise, and Vladimir Putin gave the welcoming speech. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and USTDA co-sponsored a conference attended by representatives from more than 60 U.S. aviation and finance companies. In August 1993, future Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta led a delegation to St. Petersburg that included six congressmen, Federal Highway Administrator Rodney Slater (another future secretary of Transportation), and an FAA representative. Putin, then acting mayor and described by the consulate as “in charge of foreign assistance programs in the city,” chaired a meeting for Russian counterparts. He “bemoaned the lack of U.S. business investment in St. Petersburg” and urged the U.S. to move from technical assistance to transportation infrastructure projects. Putin said he was grateful for what the U.S. had done but called it “a modest beginning.” As any good deputy mayor would, he praised St. Petersburg’s tourism potential, its banking and communications role, and its unlimited possibilities as a “beachhead” (Putin’s word) for investors. Putin described in some detail plans to modernize St. Petersburg’s port but also said Vyborg was his favored place for a new port. He explained that “some of the world’s richest deposits of natural gas are in the northwest region of Russia, and Vyborg is the most favorable port for processing and shipping this gas to world markets.” The consulate observed: “Putin’s comments … reflect … the unrealistically high expectations, and resulting disappointments, that the many high-level USG and business delegations to this city have produced among city leaders.” (Putin’s dream was realized in 2011 when, as president, he oversaw the opening of the Nord Stream I pipeline from Vyborg to Germany.) Coming into His Own Relations with the mayor’s office, and with Putin in particular, reached a crisis point in December 1993 because of perceived U.S. protocol slights during a visit by Vice President Al Gore. After the visit, Mayor Sobchak’s protocol officer asked Consul General Jack Gosnell and his deputy to meet with Deputy Mayor Putin. They were told the meeting would involve “nothing terrible” but was an effort to find ways to avoid protocol problems in the future. Like hiding his knowledge of English in the early 1990s, Putin did not seem to want anyone to know what he knew. The facade of the former U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia. U.S. CONSULATE ST. PETERSBURG
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