What market factors made the company decide that 2002 was the right year to establish operations in Russia?
Armen Badalov: The major driver for us was the market opportunities, and the potential for Pace Global’s international expansion to such a large developing market. Energy plays a huge role in economies of both Russia and the CIS, and the energy sector in this region is undergoing massive transformation. This is the perfect location for a company like Pace Global to be present: the services that the company provides around the globe fit perfectly into what the Russian and CIS economies need at this stage of their development. Russia is a unique oil and gas market. In some respects, far more liberalised than many of the OPEC countries, but at the same time, many international companies struggle to gain market share here. What message does Pace Global want to send to American readers about doing business in Russia today? Vyacheslav Mischenko: There is a perception, perhaps lingering from the Cold War attitude and old confrontations, that today Russia is still neither fully democratic, nor
