Post by Bozur on Jan 29, 2010 12:25:04 GMT -5
The Russian Mentality
In Russia, whether it is a simple task of having a washing machine installed at home or a rather more complex matter of drilling for oil offshore in -35 degree temperatures the amount of paperwork and bureaucracy that hounds the proceedings is immense.
It is extremely notable that people from different nations tend to work in different ways! As an extremely broad example; Americans conduct work in a loud and overpowering manner, the Australians have to check with their union bosses first, the Indians tend to read the manuals and the Russians just have to check the regulations first before working through the red tape! Out of all of the above the red-tape, the backward pedaling frustration caused by immovable officials tends to fray the nerves the worst as every job, however simple it maybe becomes a nightmare of immense proportions! At least if the Union boss jumps up and down the job just never gets done, the Americans might shout and brag but the work continues and usually in a positive manner, and the Indians might be better at theory than practical application but at least everybody knows what they are talking about even if they aren't doing anything about it.
The Russian Regulations are extremely complex with regard to any situation in life! Whether it is a simple task of having a washing machine installed at home or a rather more complex matter of drilling for oil offshore in -35 degree temperatures the amount of paperwork and bureaucracy that hounds the proceedings is immense. It must also be mentioned that one might plan ahead by researching the laws and regulations governing a certain proceeding but the chances are that they will have changed, been adapted or replaced by the time the job eventually starts! Regulations change upon the whim of a government official, they change or are interpreted differently by bored paper-pushers sitting behind their large and overheated-room warped pre-soviet desks!
To watch the paper trail in motion is extremely disheartening, jobs start and are halted due to inane, if not crazy, reasons mostly which end with "the Russian regulations do not allow this". From the point of view of a non-Russian speaking Brit trying to follow events and to reason why certain tasks can not be completed it is disheartening to see the brick walls being erected, two steps backward for every one step taken.
The immense bureaucratic machine that dictates life in Russia is a throw over from communism! In the heyday when the state controlled and dictated every move and step of its citizens the paperwork was the means through which control was kept, nobody moved without forms being signed, nobody sneezed unless permission was given! Here and today, communism has slipped to be replaced with a mixture of capitalism and the leftover paperwork and operating methods that was once the reigns on the masses! In a way this is probably extremely beneficial to the Russian companies who use the bureaucracy to prevent foreign companies from gaining a permanent foothold in the country; they giving up in the face of the myriad of regulations and the ever changing tax laws that they are often faced with.
The paperwork though, the queues at the offices, the constant backwards and forwards of incorrectly filled forms, the mistakes made due to incorrect understanding of the regulations and the total halt to operations, work and proceedings due to a form or signature that has been lost in some large government building effects every man jack and his dog!
Communism is a subject that has been discussed since the likes of Karl Marx first brought it to the attention of the world. Whether or not this political method was successful or is successful is not under discussion here, what can clearly be seen though is that the vehicle from which communism operated cannot be used in a capitalist state! Russia is attempting to control and continue life using the same means of bureaucracy as it did thirty years ago, the end result being a serious hampering to development, an increase in crime and use of bribery to bypass the official channels!
It is clear that communism produced a population intent on survival, a mass of people who would do anything and everything to make sure that they (and their closest) would benefit even to the detriment of others around them. This throw-over of selfishness, however excusable in the past, continues unabated and in fact is more notable as it operates under a capitalist stance and one could say with a quasi-legal status. Previously this selfishness was for self-preservation, it was in borne from the need to have bread on the table and a roof over the head. Continued today it is for far more, for increased wealth, jobs, cars, position in society and as always there are winners and there are losers. In this instance the winners are those who get rich at the expense of those who are reduced to living below the bread line (something that the Communists ideal wanted to prevent). It could be argued that the above occurs the world over, but generally speaking laws govern such abuse to the extent that it is dampens the overall effect.
In Kholmsk, the town council decided to build a small two-story building that would become a tourist center, something that the town needed to attract holiday makers from the mainland during the summer months! They had the land, just next to the town square and they started off by erecting a wooden fence around the perimeter of the building site with work due to start once the winter season had finished. One fine day a strong wind blew through the town and the fence was blown down. The next morning not one piece of wood was found as it had all been collected by the residents living nearby for their house fires. The government soon erected another fence of similar design only to find that within a week it had all vanished, not even the excuse of a strong wind being required here.
Now it might be asked why the government did not change the design of the fence, use different materials that might not be so attractive to the nearby residents, hire a security guard or just live without a fence but here the bureaucratic jungle reared its ugly head. The laws stated that a fence was required; therefore the government and all parties involved had to comply, to not do so is never an option! It was also in the system that the fence material was to be changed from wooden posts to chipboard slats but the application for this was lost in some government department in Yuzhno were such applications must be sent, so faced with criminal action should a fence not be erected another wooden fence was installed.
This all occurred during the period of the Roubles collapse, when in one day its value dropped by half, so the hiring of a security guard was out of the question as was the start to the building which could not now be undertaken due to a shortage of Roubles in the council coffers.
To cut the story short; in the space of ten weeks seven wooden fences were erected and seven wooden fences kept the citizens of kholmsk city center warmer than usual. Seven wooden fences were erected before the application was accepted for a chipboard construction to be built instead. During the 11th week this new chipboard fence (which does not burn as well as nice wood) was erected around the lands perimeter. Unfortunately, the next day the fence had to be taken down; some law had been found or some problem had arisen whereby the government could not after all build on this piece of land and so there was after all no need for a fence!
Working in Russia is difficult. It is frustrating and it never makes sense. Communism overtook the country in ten easy years; it will take two or more generations for the aftermath to subside to a level where common sense and moral values take over from a culturally accepted selfishness and a mass of red tape that is impossible to unravel at the best of times!
www.buzzle.com/articles/russian-mentality.html