What should we tell our students...

[David S. Graber]

...about business in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union?

I have received many requests about my last posting, so here is an update.

Some interesting processes are going on:

The big money-givers are supporting improvements in the telephone
networks, because that kind of infrastructure is important for all kinds
of development. Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia are in the news alot in this
area. Globally, the industry is responding more to customer lifestyles and
business needs, and the state of the technology is not the most important
factor. Also, there is a big rush to integrate services across the
different standards and ways of delivering regular and cellular telephone
service, faxing, Internet access, TV, etc.

Inhabitants of the former communist countries are more and more willing to
pay to live more comfortably, and they are buying cars, and household
appliances. Companies like Ford, GM, Daewoo, Renault, Fiat, and
Bosch-Siemens are banking on this.

In entertainment, MTV just launched a new 24-hour Russian language
version, -- an MTV customized for Russian audiences. Ronald Lauder, the
cosmetic empire heir, runs a company from Bermuda called CME which owns
many TV stations all over Eastern Europe.

Several big real estate and development companies are buying property to
put up malls in Poland, and to a lesser degree, the same is going on
throughout many Eastern European countries, particularly the ones such as
the Czech Republic and Hungary, which have developed their economies more
quickly.

David S. Graber, Ph.D.                          tel. (202) 994-6335
Dept. of German and Slavic                      fax  (202) 994-0171
George Washington University                    graber at gwis2.circ.gwu.edu
2130 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052