In Drochia, Moldova our friend and colleague Vladimir Sterpov (center) discusses potential corn ethanol project with our Arkansas, USA client Agri Enterprise.

Three week whirlwind business development tour in Russia and the CIS

We left expecting 15 lengthy meetings and facility tours. What we got were 27 meetings in three weeks, little sleep and memories to last a lifetime. It was a true hands-on experience bouncing along the length and breadth of Georgia, Armenia, Moldova and south-western Russia – by car.

The businesses we visited were in the agriculture, alternative energy, construction, electronics, wine and tourism categories. What we had to offer was marketing and potential financial assistance along with agricultural and alternative energy equipment and expertise. Appointments were arranged in advance by our network of representatives in the former Soviet Union. (Photo above is a meeting in Drochia, Moldova, arranged for our client Biofuel Integration (left) of Arkansas regarding a potential corn ethanol plant.)

Meeting with government official in Nikolaevski Krai, Russia. Attending were the Women’s Korean Association of the Russian Federation and ethnic Korean farmers from the region outside Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad).

Meeting arranged for our client Biofuel Integration of Arkansas, USA to discuss potential corn ethanol facility near Drochia, Moldova.

At cloud level on drive from Tbilisi, Georgia to Yerevan, Armenia.

Outside Lion Gri winery in Chisinau. The Moldovan language in closely related to Latin.

Presentation by the mayor of the agricultural city of Temryuk in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Located not far from the Crimea.

And interesting option for lunch, “Stalin’s Dacha” in the forest near Sochi. One of Stalin’s many homes, it was painted forest green for protection against attack from the sky.