vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #153 / Business / Reading article...

Andrew Brochwicz-Lewinski – dressed in a bow-tie and blue blazer, speaking in an English accent despite the Slavic name – works for the largest importer of biscuits to Russia, and when he got to Vladivostok recently, the first thing he did was hit the kiosks.

To his delight, among the Vietnamese fried peanuts and Korean squid chips and cans of ready-made gin-and-tonic was a product made by Burton’s Gold Medal Biscuits, Ltd.

“We’ve got 98 percent awareness of Wagon Wheels in Russia — Vagon Veels, they call them,” he said Oct. 20. “It’s in the same league as — OK, well, we’re not quite in the same league as Pepsi and Coke, but they can’t be much more than 98 percent. The first shop we checked had Wagon Wheels. Vagon Veels! Have you tried them?”

Brochwicz-Lewinski was one of 35 British businessmen and -women who accompanied Ambassador Andrew Wood on a swing through the Far East. There were bankers and manufacturers of mining equipment and a man who makes plastic bus shelters. And they were here to make known their interest in the region.

During their stay, the entourage networked and sought customers and were treated by First Vice Gov. Tolstoshein to a lengthy discourse on everything from the climate to his views on Margaret Thatcher. Several of the jet-lagged businessmen nodded off.

Ambassador Wood said there is potential for investment here, but he wanted to know what steps Primorye is taking. “Are defense industries doing anything to convert themselves rather than just sitting back waiting for customers to buy helicopters?”

The trip was a success for some. Zolotoi Rog reported the British were interested in investing in the Far Eastern Shipping Company. But others were standoffish; rather they are drooling over Sakhalin’s offshore oil reserves.

Chris Van Reit of Atlas Project, Ltd., said he has been urging friends to put money in the Far East. But the media, he said, has scared off investment by exaggerating the turmoil here. “There must be sufficient confidence for people to take that plunge,” he said.

Not everyone was impressed with the show of the flag. Guenrikh Ditkhen of Diaspora Investment Trust in Nakhodka said the British could have cleaned up in securities if they had entered the market only a year or two ago. “Great Britain is a little bit late with investments in Russia,” he said.

But Burton’s biscuits seem to have found a perfect market. When the first shipment of Coconut Delights was sent to Russia several years ago, Brochwicz-Lewinski, who is based in Moscow, got a panicked call from the home office. “Andrew,” they cried, “what happens to Coconut Delights in cold weather?”

Brochwicz-Lewinski stuck a package in a freezer at -40 degrees. Then thawed it. Then did it again.

He was pleased to report that even after six freezings and defrostings, Coconut Delights were every bit as delicious as the day they were made. It’s a product destined for street-corner table tops all over the Far East.