Crisis M anagem ent in Russia: O vercom ing Institutional Rigidity Resource Constraints Edited by Boris Porfirieu and Lina Svedin Title: Crisis Management in Russia: Overcoming Institutional Rigidity and Resource Constraints ISBN: 91-87136-93-7 ISSN: 1650-3856 Cover design: LeifArback Printer: Elanders Gotab, Stockholm 2002 Number of copies: 500 ex. Table of Contents Acknowledgements • 5 Foreword • 7 Serguei Shoigu - Minister of E M E R C O M Chapter 1 - Introduction • 11 Lina Svedin and Boris Porfiriev P a r t 1 • 4 1 Crisis Management in Russia: A Brief Look at the Institutional Context Chapter 2 - Crisis Management Policy in Russia: The Institutional Fram ework • 43 Mikhail Faleev, Valery Akim ov and Boris Porfiriev Chapter 3 - Types of Crises and Crisis Management Mechanisms in the Russian M edia • 79 Alla Mozgovaia, Maya Darhovskaya, Marina Elimova, Kirill Gavrilov, Alla Gorodnitcheva, Alexander Tolmatch, and Elena Shlikova P a r t 1 1 • 1 2 9 Crisis Development and Response: Four Case Studies Chapter 4 - Managing the Alleviation of the 1995 Neftegorsk Earthquake • 1 3 1 Boris Porfiriev Chapter 5 - Social W elfare and Benefits for the Chernobyl Liquidators • 17 3 Elena Shlikova C h a p te r 6 - Crisis Management of the Ecological Disaster in the Town of Karabash • 205 Alla Mozgovaia 3 Chapter 7 - The Kursk Submarine Accident: Coping with Value Complexity and a Credibility C ris is • 223 Ludmila Minaeva and Daniel Nohrstedt P a r t i i i • 2 6 1 A Comparative Analysis and Conclusions C h a p te r 8 - Transitional Crisis Managemen 11 • 263 Boris Porfiriev and Lina Svedin Contributors - 285 4 Acknowledgements Acknowledgem ents The editors would like to express their gratitude to a number of per­ sons and institutions for making this book on Russian crisis man­ agement possible. W e are grateful for the generous financial support from the Swedish Agency for Civil Emergency Planning (OCB) which has made the C M Europe program (of which this volume is a part) possible. Special thanks to Sture Ericson, Bo Richard Lund- gren, and Harald Torner of O C B for their help in launching this en­ deavor and bringing it to fruition. W e wish to thank the contributing authors, who have taught us much about life and politics in Russia and its proud research tradi­ tion. They have enriched our work with their constructive dialogue. Alla Mozgovaia deserves special mentioning for providing organiza­ tional support for the Russian research team from the Institute of Sociology at the Russian Academy of Sciences and for arranging a project workshop in Moscow in the spring of 2000. In addition, Boris Porfiriev would like to thank the Foundation for National Sci­ ence Support in Russia for supporting his research. A very special thanks to EM ER C O M and to the Russian M inis­ ter of Emergency Management (Serguei Shoigu) who provided facil­ ities for meetings and workshops among the authors and also sup­ ported the research in various ways. The Swedish Institute of Inter­ national Affairs in Stockholm served as the home base for much of this project and provided a congenial working environment. The ed­ iting was completed at the National Center for Crisis Management Research and Training (CRiSM ART) at the Swedish National De­ fense College. M any of our C RiSM A RT colleagues provided valu­ able input as discussants and resource persons during the course of the study. Professor Bengt Sundelius and Dr. Eric Stern, in particu­ lar, provided constructive criticism as well as useful insight. Daniel Nohrstedt co-authored one of the case studies. Last but not least, we would like to express our gratitude to Stephanie Young, who copy edited the entire volume. Boris Porfiriev and Lina Svedin 5 Foreword F o r e w o r d Progress in science and technology has significantly increased the economic and intellectual potential both in qualitative and quantita­ tive terms. This progress has facilitated in solving many complex is­ sues regarding global, regional and national development. Unfortu­ nately, this progress has also had negative consequences. The history of the last century can attest to this fact. Rapid in­ dustrialization, urbanization and the boom in inform ation technolo­ gy were escorted by an increasing number of natural and technolog­ ical disasters, environmental degradation and escalating sociopoliti­ cal conflicts (terrorism, regional armed conflicts and so forth). Therefore, the world community considers sustainable development to be the cornerstone of long-term economic, social and political de­ velopment. The concept and principles of sustainable development involve meeting the needs of the existing generation without threat­ ening those of the future generation. Russia strives to follow this ideology by reducing the risk of m a­ jor accidents and catastrophes (by alleviating damage potentially or actually incurred by natural or technological disasters) and making this a key priority in national security. For the first time in national history, Russia in the last decade established a unified and compre­ hensive organization for preventing and responding to civil crises. The Unified State System for Emergency Prevention and Elim ination (USEPE) was officially established in 1994. Due to the fact that it was built upon the previously existing civil defense institutional structure, U SEPE is coordinated by the M inistry for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Natural Disasters Response (EM ERC O M ). This national system consists of various human, institutional, manpower, material, technical and R & D resources; all of which are needed for successful disaster management. As a result, the ability to confront different kinds of emergencies has become a fundamental part of Russia’s policy on national secu­ rity. Legislative and normative bases have been developed. M ore ef­ ficient institutional management structures and teams of well- trained disaster analysts and practitioners have been organized. M odern search and rescue technologies have been introduced in the field. A ll of these changes have facilitated in qualitatively upgrading disaster prevention and crisis mitigation activities. The increase in 7 Crisis Management in Russia: Overcoming Institutional Rigidity and Resource Constraints recent years of successful rescue and humanitarian operations con­ firm the achievements made in this area. O f course, not all efforts have been triumphantly implemented. EM ER C O M is not a static organization and it continually works hard on ways to improve USEPE. This policy implies an ongoing process of developing and introducing the latest technology and new programs for increasing resistance to multiple threats. The key in such a policy is international cooperation, which in­ cludes extensive investment in R & D in disaster prevention and cri­ sis management. This volume on the Russian experience is one good example of such collaboration. The bulk of studies have been w rit­ ten by well-known Russian scholars with active support from the Swedish Agency for Civil Emergency Planning (O CB) under the um­ brella of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). Furthermore, the Center for Crisis Management Research and Training (CRiS- M A R T ) has directly been involved in the creation and the publica­ tion of this volume. Such efforts are extremely important for a num­ ber of reasons. Firstly, this book is Russia’s contribution to the international ef­ forts on European crisis management. The newly-established collab­ oration between EM ER C O M and O CB will most likely be a crucial element in future European efforts against natural and technological hazards. The fact that Sweden has held the EU Presidency this year adds to the importance of this cooperation. It provides a good op­ portunity for strengthening relations and for extending them be­ yond the Baltic Sea region over into the European continent. Secondly, this book introduces European and other foreign read­ ers to scholars from the Russian Academy of Sciences (primarily risk and disaster sociologists and researchers from EM ER C O M ). Their fruitful cooperation helped to facilitate a multifaceted and systematic analysis of the basic features of U SEPE. This analysis fo­ cuses on risk assessment, disaster forecasting, and the organization­ al and social issues of responding to and recovering from a crisis. The Neftegorsk earthquake and the Chernobyl accident serve as ex­ ample cases of major natural and technological disasters. This vol­ ume also explores in detail the perception and interpretation of dif­ ferent types of crises by the Russian mass media (mainly in the na­ tional newspapers and in a few professional journals). The mass 8 Foreword media is increasingly becoming a vocal observer and a significant actor in crisis management. Regrettably, the authors have been unable to scrutinize every as­ pect of Russian crisis management. For example, the issues of emer­ gency education and training are not considered in this book. Like­ wise, other matters are only partially considered. This collection of Russian case studies in crisis management w ill be warm ly received by international readers serious about disaster mitigation, crisis management and crisis response both in Russia and in Europe as a whole. I commend the initiative of the Swedish crisis research community for starting and nurturing this series on crisis management, which includes this volume on the Russian expe­ rience. I hope in turn that this Russian-Swedish initiative will help facilitate the implementation of Russian proposals to organize an international emergency management agency to coordinate civil protection efforts in Europe and in the world community. Serguei K. Shoigu Minister of EM ERC O M 9 Chapter 1 Introduction Introduction1 Ltna Svedtn and Borts Porftrtev The fall of the Berlin Wall and the quiet revolution of 1989 symbol­ ize for many the radical transformation of the security complex, not only in Europe but in the rest of the world.