ABSTRACT
By the end of 2002, financial indicators showed that Russia had experienced robust economic growth for some three years in a row. The accounts of Russia following the 1998 crash read very similarly to accounts being written a decade earlier of the promise and problems of entering the post-Soviet market after the fall of communism. In 2003, most of Russia's new foreign direct investment was taking the form of paper investment rather than a true bricks and mortar commitment to the market. The chapter presents the establishment of trust in cross-cultural joint ventures. It shows how, following data gathering, Russia experienced a spectacular economic crash, leading to many foreigners exiting the market, including some of the respondents recorded here. The better news is that with functional competence much increased among Russia partners and staff, and with an apparently more reliable institutional environment in place, then handover to local personnel should be achievable in shorter timeframes than previously.
