JOHN Angus, sales manager at pelagic processor Shetland Catch Ltd, visited Moscow last month as part of a fisheries trade mission organised by the Aberdeenshire Council and Southside Ltd. Over recent years Eastern Europe has become a major market for Shetland Catch and the visit was an opportunity for the company to firm up customer contacts made over the years. In this article, Mr Angus gives his account of the trip which has already resulted in substantial orders from some of the companies visited.
I HAVE recently returned from a British Fishing Industry Trade Mission to Moscow which proved to be one of the most interesting and productive trade missions I have participated in. I have attended several trade missions overseas but the main difference with this one was that it was aimed specifically at the fishing industry.
Eastern Europe has been our most important market for several years but until now nearly all our business was done through UK or European traders. This gave us financial security but meant we were isolated from the market and had to pay the traders a commission. We made it company policy to find reliable companies in Eastern Europe who were interested in a long term relationship and who were financially secure. These were the reasons for my visit to Moscow.
We arrived in Moscow on Tuesday 10 February. It was an unseasonably warm +1°C. Perhaps I wouldn't need my winter woollies after all. My first impression of Russia was that everything was built on a grand scale. For example, the street we drove down to our hotel was the widest in the world. We then passed the largest Macdonald's restaurant in the world. I later saw the world's largest hotel which is just off Red Square.
We had meetings on Wednesday at the Department of Fishing. We were given an overview of the Russian fishing industry and also their fish farming industry. There were about twenty invited Russian companies who were involved in the fishing industry. I met three companies who were interested in importing mackerel and herring. All currently import Norwegian production but were interested in trying our fish.
We visited the largest fish processor in Europe on Thursday. This was an old Soviet style complex whose primary function was to provide employment. There were 800 employees - 500 administrators and 300 workers. The product quality was very poor but modernisation was underway. It was clear that massive investment would be needed to bring the factory up to EU standards. That same evening we were invited for cocktails at the home of Mr Steven Trusswell, the head of the Commercial Section of the Embassy.
On Friday I had a private meeting with one of the largest importers of fish in Russia. This was the most important meeting of my trip so I was well prepared. We had been in contact with them prior to my trip and I had high hopes of an order. I spent nearly the whole day at their office discussing prices and payment terms. It proved to be worthwhile because we've done over £2 million of business since that meeting.
This is exactly the sort of company we were looking to do business with. We get good market information and they are able to organise regular shipments.
There was an official dinner on Friday night with the Minister of Fishing and other invited Russians. This was followed by a cabaret. Apparently the dancing girls usually perform topless but there was a silver wedding celebration at the tables next to us and they didn't want to cause any heart attacks! What bad luck.
Saturday was a free day where you could please yourself. Some members of the mission went sightseeing around the Kremlin. The temperature had taken a nose-dive and was now -28°C so I was glad I had another meeting arranged. This was with a company who had a contract with the Moscow Government to supply fish. Their immediate interest was in herring which we will not be processing until the summer.
Later I went to the GUM store on Red Square. This is a massive indoor shopping centre which only opened to the public 5-6 years ago. Before that it had been the Kremlin's private duty-free store. I was surprised by the prices, especially for clothes. They were at least 50% higher than here and some fur coats were over £3,500. Moscow's not a place to take the wife on a shopping trip! We travelled home on Sunday. The general feeling among the group was that the trip had been a success. Most of the participants had met with companies who were interested in buying their products/services or joint ventures.
I was never aware of the dreaded Mafia that everybody had warned me about before my trip. I never saw any trouble and actually felt safer than on Commercial Street on a Friday night. This was my first trip to Moscow but I'm sure it won't be the last.