By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Globalization has come to Mo'ili'ili in the form of a one-man travel company that does nothing but escort Russian tourists around O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands.

This came about because Victor Jarnot, who ran an air-conditioning business in Our Honolulu, couldn't make a sales clerk in St. Petersburg, Russia, understand that he wanted to buy bananas.

Jarnot, a Polish immigrant, speaks English, Polish, Chinese and Bulgarian. But not Russian.

"I said to my wife, 'This is ridiculous. I have to learn Russian.'"

So he came back to Honolulu and hired a tutor from the European language department at the University of Hawai'i. In a year, he was speaking Russian. Then he said to himself, "Now that I can speak Russian, why don't I make use of it?"

He started Russia Hawai'i Tours six years ago. Two years later he closed his air-conditioning business. Now he does nothing but escort Russians around Hawai'i.

I asked if there were enough Russian visitors to keep him busy. "You'd be surprised," he said. "About 10,000 Russians visit Hawai'i every year. For 12 years,

Russians have been allowed to travel. My estimate is that approximately 3 million have come to the United States, including all kinds of religious minorities.

"There are at least a dozen Russian newspapers in Los Angeles. We get most of our clients by advertising in those newspapers.

"The thing about these Russians is that they have arrived during the last 12 years, so most of them speak only Russian. Some of them want me to handle their money. I've had 10 people come and give me $70,000, so all they had to do was sign vouchers.

"They don't trust banks and don't like to carry credit cards. I get calls from Immigration at the airport to interpret. They detained a Russian carrying $50,000 in cash. Is he a drug dealer? What they can't understand is why he would carry so much cash. It's because he's afraid.

"There are also the Novoruskiye (New Russians) who have become fabulously wealthy in Russia since the fall of communism. I had a couple who came here a year and a half ago. They stayed at the Halekulani for 12 days and spent $77,000.

"Even though they are becoming very wealthy, a lot of Russians are only now learning to enjoy life. One young Russian booked a two-week tour and did nothing but surf. When I picked him up at the airport, all he had was one little bag. He was focused on one thing.

"When I picked him up at his hotel to take him to the airport, I didn't recognize him. He was tanned and had lost 30 pounds.

"A family came here from Siberia two years in a row. I remember a young Russian who rented a Jaguar convertible and just cruised. Had the time of his life. You have to realize, for most Russians coming to Hawai'i is like achieving an impossible dream."