The class of the ETH EMBA 2011 travelled to Moscow for 6 days in February 2012. Five EMBA participants, Kean Leong Chng (Malaysian), Stefan Heinzmann (Swiss), Karl Lindström (Finn), Christoph Rochelmeyer (German) and Lioudmila Thalmann (Swiss/Russian), share their experiences.

Day 3 – February 7, 2012

By Stefan
Heinzmann

It is already Day 3 of our trip to Moscow in Russia.

Once again, an interesting program is waiting for us today. We will have the opportunity to visit one of Kühne & Nagel’s warehouses in the greater Moscow area, speak to the General Manager of DeAgostini Russia and finally meet the Ambassador of Switzerland to the Russian Federation at the Swiss Embassy.

Visit to Kühne & Nagel

We learned quickly that it is normal to be stuck in traffic in Moscow which is why we left the hotel extra early in the morning. Nevertheless, we arrived about 30 minutes late and were welcomed by a very passionate French Operations Director at the Kuehne & Nagel warehouse. After a brief introduction session, we had the opportunity to walk with him through the 20,000sqm warehouse. We learned that demand for quality warehouse space in Russia is increasing but high property prices are one reason, which hinder international companies like Kuehne & Nagel from expanding further. It was of great value to us speaking to somebody who openly shared many of his great experiences as well as challenges when doing business in Russia.

Lunch meeting with Mr. Nikos Skylakis

After an exciting morning with Kuehne & Nagel, we left the warehouse to drive to our second appointment of the day, lunch with Mr. Nikos Skylakis, the GM of De Agostini Russia. After having been stuck in traffic for 2 hours, Anna, who was the representative of our partner school the Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School, reorganized our lunch plans so that we could combine lunch and the session with Mr Skylakis. It was very interesting to speak to a non Russian who was successfully running an international company in Russia. He provided us with some very helpful and insightful advice when doing business or working in Russia.

Reception at the Swiss Embassy

One of the highlights during our trip in Russia was the reception at the Swiss Embassy. We were all very excited when we saw that we will be able to meet the Swiss Ambassador.

Once again, we tried to leave early to be on time, knowing that traffic can be bad in Moscow. After 40 minutes in the bus, we managed to drive around the building next to our hotel and decided to take the Metro. We made it to the Embassy and were warmly welcomed by the Ambassador Dr. Pierre Helg, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Russian Federation.

Dr. Helg and his colleagues spoke to us about the good relationship between the two countries Russia and Switzerland and the potential of the Russian Federation as one of the BRIC countries in the years to come. After this insightful and promising presentation we were spoiled at a cocktail reception à la Swiss hospitality.


All in all, it was another memorable day in Moscow for all of us, which was incredibly well organized and which allowed us to get an insight into the Russian business world and its future outlook by speaking to Russia experts as well as foreigners who successfully manage companies in Russia.