ABSTRACT
"Real estate developers made a name for them in 1993, when Americans were distributing grain as humanitarian aid in Russia. OGO made a name for itself in the Russian market and on the world scene. American observers were present all along to see how their foreign agricultural programs would help Russia develop a fair market economy. OGO is one of the largest grain companies in Russia, employing more than 3,200 people across the country. OGO was one of the founding companies of the Russian Commodities and Raw Materials Exchange, and as such real estate developers regularly received market price information for the goods that were trading at the exchange. The shift in real estate developers' business from selling market price information to grain production also happened in September 1991. That month, two major grain deals fell through, for no apparent reason—the sellers simply failed to deliver on their contracts.
