VENTURA : Bank Hosts Visiting Russian Businessman

At first glance, Vladimir Dorozhinski looks like a typical business-suited American bank executive.

But Dorozhinski, who is working for a month at the Bank of A. Levy in Ventura, is neither American nor a banker. The 35-year-old entrepreneur is from Nakhodka, Russia, where he is president and owner of Infocom Ltd., an information and trading company that provides consultation services to banks and import-export of souvenir items.

Dorozhinski is spending a month in Ventura to receive hands-on experience in banking. He hopes to take that experience back to Russia as his country moves ahead with democratization.

“There is a lot of Japanese influence in my city,” Dorozhinski said. “We have five or six joint ventures with Japan, but more investment from China.”

Nakhodka, an eastern Russian city with a population of 65,000, is near Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan.

The city has eight banks, Dorozhinski said. Only one of those, the Bank of the Free Economic Zone, a joint U.S.-Russian partnership, is privately held. The others are still under state control, he said.

Dorozhinski said he hopes to take what he learns and open his own private bank in Russia. “Maybe I can find a partner here in America,” he said.

One of the problem areas for the Russian banking system is in communication, he said.

“The communication between the banks is bad. Our rules and laws are not very good,” Dorozhinski said. “The government is trying to change this, but the system is slow.”

Peter Tam, vice president of trade and finance for the Bank of A. Levy, said another problem for the emerging market economy in Russia is that the banks do not have any examples to build on. That is what attracted the Bank of A. Levy to the program, he said.

Dorozhinski’s internship is sponsored by the Center for Citizen’s Initiative, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization designed to assist the private sector in the former Soviet Union in developing relationships with businesses in the United States.

Last year, a delegation of Russians was placed in businesses and organizations throughout Ventura County, including Rains department store in Ojai, Hertel R Constructors Inc. in Ventura, United Way of Camarillo and the American Red Cross of Ventura, said Jaimie Sanford, the center’s assistant director.

The program began after the center started a cultural exchange program that placed Soviets in American homes throughout the country, Sanford said.

“We hope the American businessmen will help and teach us,” said Dorozhinski. “You have a long history with a market economy; we have only five years.”