Autobiographical

Work that summer slowed and the office at RIA Novosti emptied as most translators either disappeared for interpreting assignments in Russia and Kazakhstan or spent time at their dachas. And so I was afforded the opportunity to translate more articles than in the past and was gradually improving, although with hindsight I would only get better as a translator in the second half of the decade and a true professional when freelancing later in the UK.

Since the salary debacle, working conditions had eased, with rules on working hours and suits relaxed. And I got lucky. US President George Bush was to visit the Soviet Union from 29 July to 1 August 1991, culminating with the signing of a bilateral nuclear arms reduction treaty (START) in the Kremlin on 31 July 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev’s domestic status was briefly boosted by the positive atmosphere at the time, although his mood soured on 30 July when Bush held a separate bilateral meeting and discussion with his arch rival Boris Yelstin who had assumed the mantle of Russia’s first-ever President after defeating Gorbachev’s preferred candidate Nikolay Ryzhkov and other candidates by a wide margin. However, Yeltsin was far from the only problem Gorbachev faced at the time: his position was also being undermined by the hardline Communist Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov he had appointed, who was demanding that the USSR’s Supreme Soviet submit to his will instead.

Before I continue, I feel I should clarify the status of this body. In 1991 it was more reminiscent of a fledgling parliament that can be found in the early days of a Western democracy.  Prior to Gorbachev, the Supreme Soviet had been called by the country’s leadership the most important legislative authority, whereas it had merely rubber stamped any proposals from the Politburo and Secretary-General/President of the USSR.

However, it had now gained more influence and a degree of independence thanks to reforms implemented by Gorbachev which had resulted in the creation of the Congress of People’s Deputies in 1989 and the election of its members. Two-thirds of the deputies were elected by a form of universal suffrage, with one-third representing the Soviet Union as a whole (known as the Soviet of the Union), and another representing administrative and national departments of the Soviet Union (the different republics, autonomous regions and districts of the USSR (known as the Soviet of Nationalities).

The final third consisted of deputies from the Communist Party, the Komsomol (the communist youth organisation) and trade unions. In total, the Congress of People’s Deputies had 2,250 members. Subsequently, these deputies elected a smaller bicameral Supreme Soviet made up of 542 deputies, consisting of 271 drawn from the Soviet of the Union and 271 from the Soviet of Nationalities. As a result, the Supreme Soviet was for the first time subordinate to another body – the new Congress of People’s Deputies.

On 17 June 1991 Pavlov convened the Supreme Soviet, demanding that it transfer power from President Mikhail Gorbachev to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet of Ministers, attributing the request to the deteriorating economic situation and the need for emergency rule to resolve problems in a number of industries. Pavlov was motivated primarily by rumours that Gorbachev planned to dismiss him.

The Supreme Soviet granted the additional powers to Pavlov and his Cabinet. In the meantime, however, Gorbachev was warned by the US Ambassador to the Soviet Union Jack Matlock, Jr, of a possible coup against him. Worried, Gorbachev addressed the Supreme Soviet on 21 June and managed to have the decision reversed. Inevitably, tensions boiled over. Furthermore, in order to secure this result, Gorbachev was compelled to make concessions to Yeltsin and Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first President of Kazakhstan, elected to the post by the parliament of the respective republic in 1990. Gorbachev promised them on 29 July 1991 (on the same day as the start of the summit) that he would remove Pavlov in due course as Prime Minister and replace him with Nazarbayev, and also dismiss the highly loathed USSR Minister of Defence Dmitry Yazov and his elderly partner in crime Vladimir Kryuchkov, chairman of the oppressive security service, the KGB (Committee for State Security).

And so the US-USSR summit offered some breathing space to President Gorbachev, although it would prove to be very short. By contrast the timing for me was perfect: with so many translators absent for various reasons, international news agencies found themselves short of staff. Informed of the opportunity at the last minute by a fellow translator and offered a range of different roles, I sought to help an artist friend Matvey, who was short of cash and had a limited knowledge of English, and so secured positions for us both as gophers/lifters for ten days. I worked at RIA Novosti on Saturday and Sunday to offset my absence from the new agency.i NBC paid after tax 100 dollars a day, which was extremely good money in Moscow at the time and today also looks like a good return in the current climate globally .

The work involved some heavy lifting, but was easy. Admittedly we worked long days. At the end of the two-week spell, I was invited to a big party held by one of the US news agencies, getting to know some young Irish girls in Moscow for the summer, as well as US, English and French students, executives and expats called in to work, otherwise assisting with the event, or representing advertisers for the summit. One of the Irish girls said that she was impressed with my level of English! I thanked her, adding that it was far better than my Russian, whereupon she apologised profusely. I was also invited to a separate party by two French girls, one of whom was to play albeit indirectly a key role in future employment (to be continued).

I enjoyed spending time with Matvey whom I had met through another friend Julia. He was an extremely religious artist, but seemed open-minded back then. I helped Matvey obtain a visa to visit the UK for several months in 1992 and we remained good friends for a while. Unfortunately,  on his return to Russia Matvey became increasingly patriotic and dismissive of the West in general. We drifted apart as our views differed more and more, especially as he would continually blame foreigners for all the country’s problems and appeared to be directing his anger at me for this development.