Monthly Archives: December 2007

Nice clothes, Emperor!

Posted on December 25, 2007 by Tim Newman

Yesterday I noticed the petrol tank in my car was down to a quarter of a tank, and thought I’d better fill it up.  So I went, at 11am, to do so.  Unfortunately, nobody seemed to sell any.  It had … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil & Gas, Russia | 5 Comments

A Dangerous Gamble?

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Tim Newman

Anyone who has been to Russia will have noticed that the newest, smartest, and often most substantial buildings in the country tend to be casinos.  I used to wonder where people got the money to gamble enough to support half a … Continue reading →

Posted in Sakhalin | 8 Comments

Approaching Economic Realities

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Tim Newman

Times are changing in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and proof of this comes in the form of something I have never seen before in the town, and a few people I have spoken to on the subject say the same thing: a large … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Sakhalin | 6 Comments

Logos please, and more of them

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Tim Newman

The first topic of this post could be viewed as a footnote to this post, in which I mourn the lack of a decent supermarket in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.  Branded goods have come in for a lot of stick in the past few … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Sakhalin | 2 Comments

Back to Moscow

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Tim Newman

The weekend before last I went to Moscow with a young Russian employee of mine*, to do what is sometimes known as “business development”.  The purpose of the trip was to meet representatives of Gazprom and Rosneft, and see if … Continue reading →

Posted in Russia | 3 Comments