Professor has great two weeks in Russia

Dr. Tim Donahue, associate professor of business, spent two weeks in Voronezh, in late March and early April, discussing business practices and observing the modern lifestyle in Russia.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the trip,” said Donahue, who is in his fourth year at Chadron State. “I learned there are a lot more similarities than differences between the people in American and Russia. We look the same and our wants, goals and dreams are about the same.”

Much of Donahue’s time was spent at the University of Voronezh, where he spoke 16 times to students in business and economics classes. He also met with many of the business and community leaders in the city, which has a population of about 1.2 million and is located in southwestern Russia, about 400 miles south of Moscow.

Donahue, who has vast experience in small business development, was asked to come to the university after five officials from the school visited Chadron State last fall and some partnerships were initiated. He said the Russian government is putting extreme pressure on the colleges and universities and the smaller governmental units to develop new businesses.

“Only about 17 percent of the businesses in Russia are what we would describe as small businesses,” Donahue said. “In the United States, that figure is about 80 percent. For years, everything in Russia has been from the top down. The national government controlled everything and shackled most possibilities for entrepreneurship and business development with a lot of rules and regulations.”

Although the practice will end in May, he said police have had the authority to audit a business whenever it wished. This has often forced businesses to give bribes to keep the police away. In addition, he said price ceilings are placed on many retail products, but the costs of operation have climbed, greatly diminishing the potential for profit.

Donahue noted that the Russian government has finally realized the country is not going to have the kind of growth and development it needs unless it adopts more free enterprise practices.

“Many of our American corporations were once small businesses that got out of hand,” Donahue observed. “Russia has depended on its old-line businesses for its growth, and they’re not succeeding, just like some of our American corporations aren’t succeeding now. If you don’t have small business development, you don’t have economic growth. Both the government and the people I met appear hungry for change.”

Donahue’s lectures at the university were to both undergraduate and graduate students. He also met a few times with business and government officials. During the sessions, he always asked for questions, but initially received almost none because that was a new experience for the students. However, after he had met with the classes a couple of times the exchange started to flow.

“I wanted to learn from them, just as much as I wanted to tell them how we do things in the United States,” Donahue said. “They weren’t used to speaking up in class, but I finally got through that barrier and we had some interesting discussions.”

Most of the undergraduates know enough English that he didn’t need an interpreter. Russian students have the opportunity to learn two foreign languages, and English is often one of the choices. When he spoke to the older groups, an interpreter was needed.

One of Donahue’s most interesting experiences came near the end of his visit when he met with a group of city and government leaders. The session lasted two hours and more than 20 members of the media were in attendance, shooting film and taking notes and photographs.

“I told my interpreter it must have been a slow news day, but she said no, it was an important event to have an American come and talk to them about how to improve their businesses.”

The CSC professor said the longer he stayed the more questions he received about the direction America may be headed. He said the Russians are surprised that America has a black president and are hopeful that relations between the two nations will improve. He said the people are also interested in the world’s economic prospects and the future of the global economy.

He also said he was frequently asked how the American education system works.

Donahue’s other observations included:

--The portion of Russia he saw could be compared to Minnesota as far as weather and the topography are concerned. Except for the differences in signs and more mud in Voronezh, it would be difficult to distinguish which was which during a windshield tour.

--The people were friendly, courteous and well-groomed. One of his interpreters wore blue jeans, cowboy boots and a stocking cap. But Russian is far behind America environmentally with much more trash and junk evident. Ice fishing is popular in Voronezh, but because the river is so polluted the fish aren’t edible.

--Russia has a long ways to go to catch up with the U.S. in restroom facilities.

--While the hotel where he stayed was clean and constructed well, many of the buildings on the university campus would probably be condemned in the United States. The Voronezh area is experiencing a building boom.

--The food was excellent with lots of dark breads, fresh vegetables and “some mystery meats that still tasted good.”

--While the students did not smoke in class, the faculty members smoked in their offices and some also had bottles of vodka and brandy stashed away.

Besides lecturing, Donahue had the opportunity to visit several museums and Russian Orthodox Church monasteries for both sexes. These facilities were ornate and beautiful, he said. A Vietnam veteran, Donahue was particularly interested in visiting a military museum and received a private tour given by a retired rear admiral from the Russian navy’s submarine fleet.

Donahue said he definitely has some new stories to tell his CSC classes now. He added that before he left Voronezh, several of the faculty members and business leaders told him they would like to have him return for a similar visit.

“We’ll have to wait and see if that can be arranged, but I certainly learned a lot and hope some of the things I shared can help them,” Donahue said. “The people I met were very gracious and want to improve their lives. I had a delightful time.”