There was a certain frisson to this year’s Russian Automotive Forum (RAF) organised by Adam Smith Conferences in Moscow for the most obvious of reasons.
As I boarded the connecting flight in Munich with my commercial colleague, an array of newspapers from the Financial Times to the Wall Street Journal all carried as their lead the referendum being held in Crimea that has seen its allegiance swing abruptly back to Moscow’s sphere.
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Ukrainian reservist mobilisation and Russian military exercises near the border of its southerly neighbour, all bring memories flooding back of growing up during the height of the Cold War, when Moscow and its eastern satellites squared up to Washington and its own circle of western influence in a 45-year stand-off.
Those icy relationships, long thought to be in the deep freeze, have been radically defrosted during the past few weeks as events in Ukraine and the Crimea have assumed front page status.
So, it’s against that backdrop this year’s Automotive Forum was held – in Moscow’s World Trade Centre once again and a stone’s throw from Russia’s Parliament – White House – outside which Boris Yeltsin famously stood on that tank during the attempted coup nearly 25 years ago.
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The conference organisers brought together a vast array of speakers, from government officials, OEMs and suppliers, whose presence garners significant attention from media attending the event.
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By GlobalDataOf special interest this year was the appearance of newly-appointed AvtoVAZ CEO, Bo Andersson, fresh from his tenure at the helm of GAZ Group in Nizhny Novgorod, from where he unexpectedly left just a few months ago.
I interviewed Bo – who I last saw at an incredibly early hour in Nizhny last year at his standing-only departmental morning briefing – and he’s lost none of his drive and vigour that makes him one of the sharpest cookies in the automotive world.
It’s fair to say when Bo’s in town, he ruffles feathers, in the best possible way, his passion and commitment are in no doubt and he will bring that enthusiasm in spades to AvtoVAZ to capitalise on one of Russia’s most iconic brands, Lada.
I also spoke to the head of the Turkish automotive suppliers association and just as last year, they brought a sizable delegation with them to make the most of component opportunities in this vast country.
And just to give the event even more gravitas, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Alexey Rakhmanov, addressed delegates and I had a brief word with him afterwards in his excellent English.
As I wrote this, a huge snowstorm blanketed the city in a white out and I had The Moscow Times in front of me, whose headline blared: “Resolute Putin signs Crimean Treaty” – a salient reminder politics is never far from this most extraordinary of countries.
I stood in Red Square the other day – again in driving snow – and right opposite Lenin’s tomb.
The father of communism would look on amazed at Russia’s transformation, but in Vladamir Putin, they seem to have found an automotive champion to spearhead this country’s business fortunes that some at the conference speculated could yet see a 4m annual vehicle market, something at which Lenin would surely nod his head in admiration.
