A Nesty Lunch with the Economist

In the late 90's I met the Moscow correspondent for the Economist. At this time most expats were enjoying their high salaries & the low life of casinos & prostitutes.

We agreed that Russia in the 90's was corrupt, disgusting, decadent & dependent on oil. It was heading for a crash. Not too different from Russia today actually. We got along famously.

He agreed to meet with our clients to tell them what he would be writing about Russia. I invited our 2 major blue chip clients for "Lunch with the Economist." The first client arranged a private room in a restaurant near their office within 2 weeks. They invited their entire board. They also brought along their supervisory board from Switzerland who were in Moscow that week.

The second Blue Chip client took 6 months to arrange a simple meeting between their GM & my friend at the Economist. I wasn't invited.

But I was at the first lunch. My friend told the Nesty client that he believed Russia was a terrible place to invest. He told them that they should put their money in China & India instead. He told them that Putin was a KGB man, didn't understand capitalism or democracy and would suppress free speech.

At the end of the meeting the Nesty client expressed their gratitude for his opinions, even though they disagreed, & offered him a gift of their finest products.

My friend thanked them but said that he couldn't possibly accept. It was against the Economist's rules for journalists to take presents from companies.

"But I'll happily give it to my cleaning lady" he announced.