Russia Really Needs a Re-Brand

The news has been awash lately with the latest trial of Russian Oil Tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and both the US and Germany haven't held their tongues in what they believe is a corrupt, politically motivated sentencing. Khodorkovsky has been languishing in jail serving an eight-year sentence for tax evasion and fraud. But his real crime, or so the critics of the court believe, may have been to oppose Putin's political empire. This isn't helping Russia re-shape itself as a modern, progressive state. And it isn't helping warm the cockles of potential investors.

A year ago Ikea stopped pumping money into Russia because they couldn't get anything done with the mountains of bureaucracy and the corruption of local officials. Their expansion into the wild, new marketplace met a frosty and abrupt end. It's too bad because Dmitry Medvedev is really pushing the 'I'm a modern guy' routine and snags like Ikea aren't helping his cause. The BBC reports that on the latest Corruptions Perceptions Index, Russia ranks 154 out of 178, and that is not good business.

Chief Economic Advisor, Arkady Dvorkovich, insists that most foreign investors are "happy about working in Russia," but also acknowledges that corruption is "in the heads of the people. It's a systemic problem. It's not the problem of a group of officials." And that maybe a truer picture of Russian life than what the media paints. Of course, word travels fast, and both good and bad experiences of doing business in Russia need to be expressed in the press. But, nevertheless, it does seem like the West only gives corruption, murder, and the mafia any ink. What Russia really needs is a re-brand! Can you re-brand a country? There's a job there to be done, for sure.