Spinverse talks Russia in Helsinki

Luc Jones of Antal Russia wrote in his recent publication: “Russia is not a country where you can just show up and make a quick buck – you need to be in it for the long term. Many have tried and failed, but even more have done extremely well in Russia.” Finnish-Russian economic co-operation has been intensively in the spotlight recently, as the growing Russian market offers plenty of business opportunities for Finnish companies. Though entering the Russian market requires careful planning, and it is vital to get expert advice.

Thus, the event, “Russian market: take it or leave it”, organised by Spinverse on 11.02.2014 in Helsinki, focused on opportunities, highlighted the challenges and discussed the strategies of the Russian market.

Speakers who shared their experiences and valuable insight were: Martti Husu, Director of Russian operations at Spinverse; Raimo Valo, CEO of East Office, giving an overview of the Finnish-Russian cooperation and addressing the renowned dilemma of why “in Finland everything works, but nothing is possible, while in Russia nothing works, but everything is possible”; Sampo Ahonen, CEO of Beneq, with a brilliant success story in Russia; seasoned Russian market professional Mikko Kaarela, Senior Consultant in Spinverse, providing a comprehensive “ Go to Russian market 101” and, of course, Oleg Plaksin, Director of International Projects in Russian Venture Company, presenting the opportunities Russian innovation system has to offer to the Finnish companies. The agenda culminated in the lively discussion moderated by Pekka Koponen, Spinverse’s CEO.

“Russian market is still growing, but it has not reached its potential. It is not saturated. Yet”, postulated Raimo Valo of East Office in his talk, adding “if you do not know the market, you waste your time and money, thus you either go to Russia full force or you don’t go there at all”.
Russia is our next door neighbour and it will remain so. We, at Spinverse know how Russian business works – and why it sometimes doesn’t. We could help you to understand the market and connect you with the people and organisations that matter.

Talk Russia with us!