1. FEB 26 MOSCOW TV CARRIED TAPED INTERVIEW WITH REPRE-
SENTATIVE OF US FIRM J.I. CASE CO., OF RACINE, IOWA
(TENNECO SUBSIDIARY). INTERVIEW, WHICH WAS ARRANGED WITH
ASSISTANCE OF EMBASSY'S PRESS OFFICER, AT THE REQUEST OF
SOVIET TV, PROVIDED SOVIET VIEWERS OF MAJOR EVENING NEWS-
CAST (VREMYA) OPPORTUNITY TO SEE AND HEAR AMERICAN BUSINESS-
MAN DESCRIBE, ALBEIT BRIEFLY, HIS COMPANY'S EQUIPMENT LINE
AND ITS COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH SOVIET UNION.
2. FRANK CASSIDY, GENERAL MANAGER FOR COMECON AREA IN
CASE'S INTERNATIONAL DIVISION, WHO HAS MADE FREQUENT TRIPS
TO MOSCOW IN PAST THREE YEARS, GAVE THREE-MINUTE PRE-RECORDED
INTERVIEW TO VITALI BELOBORODKO, REPORTER/EDITOR OF MOSCOW
CENTRAL TV, WHICH CARRIED NATION-WIDE. ACTUAL EDITED BROAD-
CAST WAS ABOUT ONE MINUTE, WITH BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF
CASSIDY AND FIRM, SEVERAL SECONDS OF CASSIDY RESPONDING
IN ENGLISH, AND THEN RUSSIAN TRANSLATION COVERING ENGLISH
FOR REMAINDER. (BELOBORODKO'S QUESTIONS WERE EDITED OUT.)
CASSIDY REFERRED TO FACT THAT CASE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL
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EQUIPMENT ARE BEING USED IN THE SOVIET UNION, AND CAMERA PANNED
CASE AND TENNECO BROCHURES ON TABLE WHICH CONTAINED PICTURES
OF EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT. CASSIDY SPOKE OF CASE'S INTEREST
IN SELLING EQUIPMENT FOR SOVIET SIBERIAN PROJECTS, AND OF
POSSIBLE CASE INTEREST IN PURCHASE OF SOVIET STEEL.
3. AT ONE POINT IN INTERVIEW CASSIDY, WHO WAS SPEAKING WITHOUT
SCRIPT, REFERRED TO FACT THAT TRADE BILL PROBLEMS HAVE NOT
AFFECTED CASE'S COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH SOVIETS, BUT THIS
WAS NOT PICKED UP IN THE TRANSLATION.
4. BELOBORODKO, WHO RECENTLY RETURNED FROM SIX MONTHS IN
THE UNITED STATES, AFTER A RECENT FIVE-YEAR TOUR, HAS TOLD
PRESS OFFICER HE HOPES TO DO FAIRLY FREQUENT COVERAGE OF US
BUSINESSMEN IN USSR, AS WELL AS SEGMENT ON U.S. COMMERCIAL
OFFICE IN MOSCOW, PERHAPS IN CONTEXT OF SOVIET PUMPS AND
COMPRESSORS EXHIBITION AT MOSCOW'S SOKOLNIKI PARK APRIL
1-10, 1975, IN WHICH DEPT OF COMMERCE SPONSORING US PARTICIPATION
BY 25 FIRMS. (BELOBORODKO ARRANGED SEVERAL INTERVIEWS WITH
HIGH-LEVEL US COMMERCIAL VISITORS IN EARLY 1974, BEFORE HIS
TRIP TO THE STATES.)
5. COMMENT: WHILE THE CONTENT OF THE INTERVIEW WAS
NON-CONTROVERSIAL AND NON-POLITICAL, AND THE BRIEF REFERENCE
TO THE TRADE ACT WAS NOT EVEN TRANSLATED (ALTHOUGH CERTAINLY
AUDIBLE IN ENGLISH), IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT SOVIET TV
AUTHORITIES WOULD PERMIT BROADCAST OF AN INTERVIEW WITH
AN AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN SHOWING "BUSINESS AS USUAL," IN THE
WAKE OF THE MFN AND EX-IM CREDIT REVERSALS. WHILE THERE HAS
BEEN NO LACK OF PRESS COVERAGE QUOTING HIGH-LEVEL US BUSINESS
EXECUTIVES CRITICIZING CONGRESS' ACTION ON THE TRADE ACT
AND THE EXPORT-IMPORT AUTHORIZATION, THE INTERVIEW WITH THE
CASE REPRESENTATIVE CAN BE CONSTRUED AS A LOW-KEY MESSAGE TO
THE SOVIET PUBLIC THAT THE TRADE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES
IS AN ONGOING PROCESS.
6. EMBASSY POUCHING TO EUR/SOV AND BEWT/USSR (USDOC), COPIES
OF INTERVIEW AS RECOLLECTED BY CASSIDY. ACTUAL TRANSCRIPT
NOT AVAILABLE.
STOESSEL
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