Summary of the challenges of doing business in Russia:
- Corruption and bureaucracy at any level of the government;
- Disparity, compare to EU and USA in economic and political systems, infrastructures, national and business cultures;
- Limited opportunities for international companies with non local headquarters to have a good overview and market insight;
- Russia’s cash economy – and its porous legal and tax systems – allow, if not encourage, cutting corners;
- Unreliable and ineffective law system;
- Russia’s professional class is expert at cheating the system – a science perfected in the Soviet period.
However like usually the place where the higher risk has a higher payoff, so understand Russia today it is crucial for any MNC. Only then can you have a stake in its future. In order to have any hope of meeting long-term business objectives in this most restless of countries, it is essential to build intense interpersonal relationships. Knowing how to do this requires an informed understanding of Russia's past as well as an appreciation of the complexities of the present transition to market-economy conditions and insights into the Russian business mentality. Without such knowledge, all forms of management cooperation with Russia are placed under severe stress.