Thursday, 12 May (Visits)

Once again we woke up to a beautiful Moscow morning. I cannot recall if I have noted we are right beside an area that does look like disneyland and where you can buy artifacts and souvenirs. We once again had the luxury of a bus to take us to our site visits.

First up was a visit to the US Embassy. We were graced by the presence of the former President of SPIFFY (our outstanding student run stock portfolio) Sasha Misan (first picture). We were not allowed to bring our cell phones or cameras into the facility. One of the embassy folks took one of our cameras and accepted responsibility for it--there is a photo of us in the Embassy but I do not have it. This is, you might recall, the Embassy that sat empty for years because listening devices were supposedly installed in the bricks--but that has all been cleared up now. The embassy is truly a city within Moscow, they have their own gym, their own foodstore, pool and other facilities and approximately 140 members of the staff live in apartments within the complex--it does not look that big from the outside.

The second photo is part of our group waiting to clear security and enter the embassy and the third photo is of all of us outside the embassy. We received a very interesting address dealing with the importance of oil and gas to the overall Russian economy and how falling (or rising) oil prices have an impact on their national budget. It was stressed to us over and over again that it is important to build personal bridges in doing business in Russia--European nations have figured this out, but most American firms find entry and doing business in Russia daunting.

We then went to lunch in an absolutely beautiful garden like restaurant. The photos attached (4 and 5) do not really do it justice, although we were inside it was like being in an outside garden and the food choices were varied and excellent. Sadly many of our party do not like borscht (a Russian cabbage based soup). We then headed to the Coca Cola bottling plant in Moscow which is the largest in Europe. The plant was on the outskirts of the city --about 20 miles-- and this proved to be a challenge at the end of the day.

The 6th photo is of Ms. Wicks presenting a small token of our appreciation to the President of the plant for a terrific, passionate and engaging speech. We later found out that he rarely greets visitors and if he does, he only spends a few moments with them. He spent over an hour with us and it was truly enjoyable and very very informative. After his interactions with us, we got a tour of the plant--and the final two photos are of some of our party--we all looked like medical doctors!

It took us 3+ hours to get back to our hotel, 20 miles away. The traffic in Moscow is quite a challenge--I do not think I have ever seen 16 lane (8 in each direction) streets that were absolutely packed anywhere else in the world. Our driver was quite skilled and aggressive--Andrei Strukov and I decided to wear our seatbelts as we were in the front two seats and felt the need to be strapped in tightly. We arrived home safely, and tired from a long day. We began at 9 and did not get back to the hotel until nearly 9.

I think the participants (your loved ones) are enjoying themselves and learning more and more about doing business in Russia. Stereotypes are being broken virtually every day.

Enjoy.

John F. Mahon
John M. Murphy Chair of International
Business Policy and Strategy and
Professor of Management
www.umaine.edu/business/
www.umaine.edu/business/faculty-staff/mahon/