THE new number two at Bermuda's US Consulate says he is happy to be working in a country where people play by the rules.

Matthew Johnson, the Consulate's deputy principal officer, will be helping out US Consul General Gregory Slayton with his duties and will deputise for him when he is absent.

Flouting the law was not uncommon among the locals in some of his previous postings, Mr. Johnson said, particularly in the former Soviet Union.

During a two-decade career serving overseas with the US Government, Mr. Johnson has worked for the State Department in four venues that were once in the old Communist bloc.

"I was in Georgia, Leningrad (now called St. Petersburg), Vilnius (in Lithuania), and Vladivostok," Mr. Johnson said.

"What I saw was that since the breakdown of the old Soviet Union, people were out to make as much money as they could as fast as possible and the rules went out the window.

"So it's nice to come here and know that the Bermuda Government officials are not in business for themselves and to be in a place where things are carried out in accordance with the rule of law. So when you get involved in a discussion you know what the rules are."

There had been other, more positive changes since the old Soviet regime had crumbled, however.

"I was in Leningrad from 1988 to 1990 and it was very risky for people to even talk to you," Mr. Johnson said. "After the Soviet Union fell, then all that changed."

Mr. Johnson is preparing for another refreshing change ? working with Mr. Slayton, whose background is in private enterprise rather than Government.

"This is the first time in my 20-year career in foreign service that I have worked with a political appointee," Mr. Johnson said.

"The reality is that Mr. Slayton comes from the corporate world and brings a sense of urgency and efficiency that is sometimes blunted by Government.

"I look forward to learning more about this new approach and work towards a product that will meet the needs of anyone who walks through the door of the Consulate."

Mr. Johnson will be living in Bermuda with his wife Wiwik and five-year-old daughter. He also has a 15-year-old son at school in the US.

Mr. Johnson added: "My wife was born in the tropics and when she heard there had never been a temperature of below 44 degrees recorded in Bermuda, she was delighted to be coming here."