not the same as they were before.
Up until 2000-ish I used to describe Russia as a “hand shake economy” - meaning that you agreed a deal face-to-face, man-to-man (there were no women until after the deal) and it mattered little what the lawyers lawyered thereafter - I honour my word etc.,
And the world has changed. A deal is not a deal until you have signed, stamped and initialed, in original, one copy for every one in the room, and any pets they might have as well.
Which is all well and good - it works in the US. Except that in Russia no one can be bothered to actually read the agreements they are due to be signing until they are due to be signed. Bosses never read agreements, it would be like admitting that you did more than surf porn on your computer. Getting an NDA signed takes 3 days, a term sheet at least a week. Closing a deal - hair that I can no longer afford.
Five fucking hours in a negotiation that would have taken 5 minutes if the other side had read the documents. Lets put a measurable cost on that;
1 hour prep time with our lawyers - $600
5 hour meeting - $3,000
1 hour traveling - $600
Me working until 22.00 doing work that I could have better done earlier - annoyed
My sense of humour - invaluable
Rationale - if it was easy every one would be doing it.
[composed and posted with ecto]
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