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But St. Petersburg's architectural charm and rich history will do little to diminish the formidable obstacles confronting Sobchak as he tries to reform the city's economy. His advisers are working on plans to create a "free economic zone" around the city by Jan. 1, in the hope that lower taxes and fewer customs barriers will encourage foreign banks and companies to invest. So far, Moscow is going along with the idea. But even Anatoly Chubais, Sobchak's chief economic adviser, admits that the free economic zone is "a risky policy" prone to failure if Russia's economy as a whole does not improve. "Even if we wanted to create capitalism in just one Russian city, it wouldn't be possible," says Chubais. "We have the same ruble and the same financial system."
St. Petersburg will also be a testing ground for the conversion of Soviet factories from military to civilian production, since 70% of the city's industries work on military orders. Though some critics accuse the mayor of cozying up to the military-industrial complex, Chubais argues that the abundance of enterprises producing high-tech equipment such as satellites and communications systems gives the city an edge in attracting foreign capital. But Western firms may be reluctant to make investments in a republic as unstable as Russia. If so, Sobchak's St. Petersburg could be rocked by massive unemployment as Moscow trims orders for military hardware.
A persuasive speaker who counts John F. Kennedy and Charles de Gaulle among his role models, Sobchak, 53, is one of the most influential politicians in Russia, behind only Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Yet conservative and liberal opponents alike accuse him of resorting to authoritarianism in running the affairs of St. Petersburg. "God never gave Anatoly Sobchak the talent to work with other people," wrote one critic. Sobchak, a former law professor, dismisses the accusations as the grumblings of "incompetents" on the unwieldy, 382-member city council. Thanks to his national status, Sobchak says, he is "much more successful in solving the problems of the city than any of my would-be successors."
If all goes well with Sobchak's economic reform plans, Chubais predicts a rise in the standard of living in the city by the end of 1992. The question is whether St. Petersburg residents will have the patience to wait that long. Leonid Keselman, a sociologist who specializes in public opinion surveys, believes they will. "The people of this city have suffered for a long time without hope," he says. "Now they have something real to hope for." If Keselman is right, it may be only a matter of time before Peter the Great's old capital reclaims its place among the great cities of Europe.