Russian Collaborators Series #1 - Hyundai
The Main Entrance to the St. Petersburg Hyundai Factory
Worried About the Russians? Hyundai and Others Aren't
Okay, so I am not really going to do a whole series of articles on all the companies from across the globe that do business in Russia. The title was a little "click bait-ish".
However, I get many opportunities to work with multi-national companies here in St. Petersburg and last year I was invited to tour Hyundai's state of the art manufacturing center. It was a fantastic tour that showcased their production and control systems and I was very impressed. Keep in mind that I've NEVER owned anything other than an American made automobile and if that ever changes, I may be labeled persona non grata by my relatives in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
That being said, I was very impressed with Hyundai and would not think twice about driving one of their vehicles after seeing how they operate. I've toured several automotive plants and even more manufacturing facilities of other companies and their operation is tip-top.
Hyundai and Many Other Companies are Heavily Invested in the Russian Economy
It seems that in the last 2 years that any contact with Russians somehow exposes a person or company to some sort of scandalous dealings. If you're a politician, it can plague you continuously. Just ask Hillary Clinton (Uranium 1) and Donald Trump (a plethora of accusations including urinating prostitutes). Most of these associative problems are rooted in consumer ignorance and find their foundations in the archaic Cold War mentality that far too many Western voters still cling to.
Therefore, since many of you or people you know are so "deeply concerned" about relationships that Westerners have with the SCARY RUSSIANS, let's highlight the countless other companies that YOU and those you know do business with that are also heavily invested in Russia.
Hyundai is a great example because they built an multi-million dollar manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg, but also have operations everywhere in Russia. They employ thousands of Russians and hundreds of Koreans here. Don't start worrying that they are cornering the Russian market in automobile sales because guess who else is here in the automotive game.
Here is a small list -
Ford - General Motors - Volkswagon - Nissan - Peugeot...
You get the point I'm sure. If Russia and Putin are so evil, why are these companies doing business here and why aren't they being harassed by the media and sanctioned by Western governments? You might answer that, well, it's cars and the car business is everywhere and so on, excuse, excuse, blah blah blah.
How about other companies though? What about Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald's, Subway, KFC, Starbucks (OMG, the liberal deity is in Russia too?, Yes), TGIFridays, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, and the list goes on and on.
Oh Jerry, those are just franchised operations bought by Russians. Except, no they aren't. Coca-Cola didn't sell bottling rights, they opened up corporate operations. The owners of many of these franchises most often have Western partners. But Jerry, it's not the same - it's only the food business and the real threat blah blah blah...
How about technology firms? Surely, the technological and innovative giants couldn't be in cahoots with the evil Russians. After all, they will steal the technology and invade Europe tomorrow. Good thing we have NATO to protect the EU.
Good thinking, but once again you're wrong. You see those innovators like General Electric and Siemens are ALSO heavily invested in Russia. They aren't just selling to the Russians, they are investing in the economy itself and paying Russians to do research and production of these marvelous innovations. How can that be so, they are going to give the good info to the enemy? Maybe they only give them the bad technology? Sure, whatever makes you sleep better at night and Hillary lost because of hackers - sure sleep well.
Here are some other fan favorites in the technology sector - especially in computers, networking, programming, etc. All the big boys are HERE. Google? Here. Microsoft? Present. This list is extraordinarily long. Why? Because Russian programmers ARE that good. You will be hard pressed to find a single superstar firm in Silicon Valley that doesn't have a presence of some kind in Russia or sub-contract work here.
But Zuckerberg said the Russians... Yeah. Want to know where FB has less market penetration than most anywhere? Bingo! Russia. How is that possible, Jerry? The Zuck! Well, there is this thing called BKontakte (VK) and it is like FB on steroids and most Russian speaking people use it instead. Is their information anymore secure than yours is on FB? Not likely, but it's the Orwellian world we live in.
Wonder where that tech job is that you've been searching for? It is probably here. Officially, a ton of tech firms are operating in Russia and unofficially there are 1000's more. You see, that Russian programmer will work for less pay, doesn't complain about micro-aggressions, and doesn't want a company committee created for "gender issues in the workplace". He/she (yes, women in tech and science actually exist in Russia) will just show up to work and do what they are supposed to do like normal employees because they understand that what they do at home or on the weekends has no bearing on what they SHOULD be doing at work. Sorry SJW's, this is how the REAL world operates and why YOUR tech job wasn't waiting for you and your Women's Studies degree.
Moving on to other large Multi-Nationals you didn't know were heavily invested in Russia. British Petroleum, Shell, Exxon-Mobil, EON, Haliburton, Schlumberger, Proctor & Gamble, International Paper, Encore, JTI (tobacco), Phillip Morris, Baker & McKenzie, Price Waterhouse Coopers, KPMG, Orange Communications, Marriot, Hilton, Smurfit Kappa, Unilever, Wrigley...
If the Russians are so bent on taking over the world and controlling foreign governments and killing innocent ex-spies and their children, then why are all these companies doing so much business here. Surely, that would be a REALLY big mistake from a business sense OR maybe the loads of bullshit you've been spoon fed over the last few years and your hatred for a political candidate has allowed you to abandon all reason and believe it.
However, maybe you're on Steemit and you don't fall for that Dog and Pony show because Steemians are smarter than the average bear (no pun intended, but Kudos if you got it).
Last photo is next to the first car off the assembly line at the Hyundai factory. The car is personally signed by President Putin (I wonder if Hyundai executives are under investigation in Korea for this).
graphic by @habeebability
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Ah ahah! I'm more worried about the people who tell me I should be worried with the megalomaniac Russians. 😉
PS: Спасибо за эта хорошая статья!
Number of McDonald's in Russia. lol
https://www.reddit.com/r/russia/comments/8ko72x/map_number_of_mcdonalds_in_russia/
Russia is being used as a scapegoat by the demoncrats because lieerlly lost the election . Most people are realizing this fact .
The cold war days are over and have been for decades .
I get so sick of hearing the propaganda BS for political gain nonsense .
ROFL
It's so hard to separate the BS from the truth .
I know of sanctions against individuals but not against Russia itself
UN has failed in so many ways .
oil hurts a lot of countries when it $50 or less a barrel .
An IEA report and a similar World Bank/IMF (can't remember which) study showed demonstratively that higher oil prices boost the overall economy of the world and is more effective in wealth redistribution from wealthy nations to developing countries (and not only to those that produce oil).
I agree with that study , makes sense
people don't realize that oil price has an impact on gas prices but its not the main reason . Summer mixture , taxes and distribution has hidden cost that no one wants to discuss
Propaganda or not, the consequences are real. The sanctions are hurting Russia and a lot of other countries, too. And nevermind that there are confirmed criminals governing some other countries, who never get hit with sanctions. Ever. The UN, unfortunately, is a mere pawn.
The interesting thing about sanctions. They have NEVER worked. The sanctions are not hurting the Russian economy and the West knows this. Every day that oil stays above $50 a barrel is a good day for the Russian economy. Every day that a European uses natural gas is a good day for the Russian economy. Russia's economy is experiencing "real" growth and not the inflated numbers used by Western governments to hide true inflation and debt in national vote buying schemes (free stuff from the government).
If the UN were legitimate, we wouldn't have NATO and Israeli planes bombing Syria.
Very true. I think the countries who are getting hurt the most are the ones that were already in crisis... and used to deal a lot with to Russia. Like Greece, for instance. They were already in bad shape. The sanctions have made it even worse.
It's like the EU is shooting itself on the foot just to please a far away country on the other side of the Ocean.
And the irony of it is... when Portugal needed help to control the forest fires, the EU said it couldn't help. They had no resources, no money, no people... But the Russians had no problems helping us.
So, we got more help from the country we were sanctioning... than from the group of countries that forced us to join the sanctions. If that's not ridiculous, I don't know what is.
You are right on so many fronts. Victims of sanctions and Russia's counter sanctions are certainly EU member states. Greece tops the list, but also Poland's meat and cheese industry. Greece got more debt restructuring as a reward for signing on to sanctions (and the threat of no debt restructuring if they didn't). The Polish leadership is delusional and will eventually collapse their sovereignty and become just another beggar to Germany like so many other EU countries.
Wow! I didn't know that about Poland. I was there in 2008 and they seemed to be on the right track.
The more reliance people put on the government, the more power over there own lives they give up. The problem with so many places, Poland included, is that they think government is the solution to problems. In some respects, this is very true. However, when you start sending all that power far from your hometown, the people getting the power and money don't really give a shit about your small town. To make matters worse, Poland goes deeper in debt and pisses in everybody's Cheerios (Germany's, Russia's, Ukraine's, etc.).
Don't be shy, tell us how you really feel, lol.
The only alarming part to me was how many American companies Russia is allowing in. The last thing needed there is the import of crappy fast food and spy giant Google.
Russia has it's own Google called Yandex, but I still use Google here. However, many people including my wife use Yandex. Unfortunately, our data is no safer with Yandex than Google. There really is no "allowing" because it is a free market here. There are sets of laws that are different than many Western nations, but free enterprise is booming here. More common than fast food are the restaurants with non-Russian food that are owned and operated by Russians.
Also, Russians tend to eat much healthier in general than we do in the U.S. and they don't allow the Monsantos of the world to GMO everything. Whole grains and non-chemically treated vegetables are common. Additionally, everyone eats soup for lunch even in the freaking summer.
Given opportunity most countries have what it takes to grow, the adverse reaction to Russia has always amazed me. Our country has been pushed and pulled about over the years due to government decisions.
Apartheid years, Russia was bad - Post-Apartheid we are now part of BRICS Nations.
Russia has always been in the background, quietly going about their business, growing their economy.
Most the businesses you mention are over here, all doing business in a Global Village. Those who placed sanctions on us (and remember)refrain from buying their goods (mostly Western Countries), Hyundai for one is flourishing over here.
Fast food many still prefer local, personal taste... still supply healthy food, it is in building our country where we are falling short.
Education, educating and helping one another grow in a country that has many possibilities from farming to technical, yes it can all be found given the right attitude in moving forward, stop looking behind!
business is business I think, everyone need cars, fuel, foods and works despite the political probs between countries, right? remind me to a good book once I read about The war for fuel and Goddess of Poverty :D (I Think I need to add this, find you on Kryptonia @cicisaja... Hahahaha)
Money is evil. Money is seen as a source of power. Money is involved in every business. Money is immoral. Money pushes people.
I'm just saying, that money and the way we handle it, is the real issue in our current society.
This is really great collaboration and yes, when foreign companies establish or invest in particular country then that inturn will help the economy and there is another great aspect in it and that is, it can generate more employment and that's really effective because when it comes to Multi National Companies many lose jobs in the phase of cost cutting by the Companies. Thanks for sharing this post with us and wishing you an great day. Stay blessed. 🙂
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Russia is now among the great country in the nation on really happy for the post are they founder of the company they do great job