Jul 25
One event which passed unremarked in the midst of the current media storm was the first China-Russia Expo which was held in early July in Harbin. Under the theme “new opportunities, new platform” , this international exhibition brought together Russian and Chinese businessmen and their respective industries in an “innovative, open and international” space. continue reading
Old Humphrey in his 1842 book Soldiers and Sailors tries to ascertain whether men of the army or the navy both work and play harder. He concludes:
True. They work hard, play hard, and fight hard; but, say what you will, it is not all sunshine with soldiers and sailors. A soldier, on parade or on a review day, looks like a man of leisure, … but see him in war, marching through miry roads, panting with heat or numbed with cold, up early and late …Neither does honest Jack lead a life of ease, or sleep upon roses. See him in the north, when the rigging of his ship is hung with icicles; in the east and west, when the deck is almost as hot as a baker’s oven; holding his weary midnight watch in the calm, and reefing the fluttering sail in the storm.
According to a recent article in The Economist things have changed over the last two centuries; nowadays the richer you are, the less time you have for leisure. This trend is in direct contrast to how things worked until recently, when the number of hours worked was negatively correlated to a person’s wealth. The tables have now turned, and it is no longer a social stigma to admit to spending long hours working. continue reading
Today we remember the day in June 1942 when Arctic convoy PQ-17 set sail from Hvalfjord, Iceland, bound for the Russian ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. Shortly after the 35 merchant ships and 6 naval auxiliaries entered open waters, the convoy was sighted and tracked by a U-Boat. A series of raids and attacks followed, during which 24 of the 41 ships were sunk. Only 2 British, 4 American, 1 Panamanian and 2 Russian ships managed to deliver urgent supplies to Russia’s Arctic ports.
Rest in peace, great heroes of the Great War, and may God have mercy on your souls.
At 10am, on 6th June 1944, the BBC broadcasted the following announcement by the then supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower.
People of Western Europe: a landing was made this morning on the coast of France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of the concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe, made in conjunction with our great Russian allies. continue reading
智者靠己庸者靠人
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man obeys public opinion. (Ancient Chinese proverb)In late April, the World Bank released figures confirming that this year China will supersede the US to take the position of the world’s largest economy. This development comes 5 years earlier than predicted, yet has global ramifications for centuries to come. It means economists will have to address a rebalancing of the global economy much sooner than they expected and most probably hoped. After all, economic power brings political power, something many in the world are reluctant to grant China at present. In this blog I will analyse how various stories in the media are feeding into this development, and what this new economic world order means for China, the US and the rest of us. continue reading
In my third and final blogpost on Sino-Russian relations (for the time being), I want to draw attention to the $3.5 billion investment plan the two countries pledged in May 2013. Unlike my previous post on the physical connection between China and Russia, here I will discuss the links between two places which are over 5000 kms apart.
Anyone who has visited Russia’s eastern provinces, whether on business or on an adventure-driven Trans-Siberian journey, will be all too aware of how different this part of the country feels compared to Russia’s west, and the Volga heartland. On the one hand it is still very Russian, thanks to homogenisation during the Soviet period. On the other hand, there are many allusions to its proximity to its Asian neighbours of China, Korea, Japan and Mongolia. This can most obviously be seen in the cars locals drive, but also in the faces of the people, the languages heard, and not to mention the food on offer. continue reading
Jun 2
In recent weeks the Western media has begun to argue that ongoing altercations with the West are forcing Russia to enlist stronger economic reliance on the great hegemony of China. What is being overlooked, however, is that this isn’t a new phenomenon for 2014; the Sino-Russian relationship has been strengthening over the past twenty years and Russia already has a strong and profitable eastern connection with China.
Apr 14
After a busy month I finally have a few days away for a bit of ‘R and R’, and a chance to catch up on some reading. Of course, ‘time out’, ‘switching off’ and ‘escaping the office’ are phrases a businessman does not fully comprehend, and as such my holiday reading matter is made up of the likes of LBS’s alumni magazine and Jim O’Neill’s The BRIC Road to Growth.
It was a feature in the March edition of Financial World though which got me thinking. The article by Professor Diane Coyle of the University of Manchester questions the validity of GDP. Now, this is an old debate, but I was interested in Coyle’s analysis of how GDP fails to represent the whole picture, yet continues to play a key role in decision making. continue reading
Apr 4
Last year the completion of the Four Seasons Lion Palace in St Petersburg was a sweet victory for me. As a St Petersburg native, I was pleased we were able to pip to the post the opening of the Moscow project committed to bringing the Four Seasons experience to Russia. It is ever more apparent that the age old contest between Moscow and St Petersburg is raising its head. According to an article in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Russia’s old capital St Petersburg, is once again back in the running as its economic, social and intellectual capacity goes from strength to strength. continue reading
Russia Today reports on an interesting new perspective of President Putin in an article by the leading UK daily newspaper, The Times. In an article by Roger Boyes (Diplomatic Editor), the newspaper heralds the President as the ‘Man of the Year’ for his efforts to ‘bring Moscow back to the international high table’. The President’s bold efforts in Syria are highlighted in particular for having been a ‘face-saver’ for the US and Britain.
Andrey Yakunin 
