Daily Archives: February 6, 2007

If you’ve ever been to Russia, and you stay with friends or in a private residence, you know what a pain in the ass it is to register. The process required getting a letter from the person who owns the apartment, take it to OVIR, and wait in line. If an inviting organization does the procedure for you it can take up to 10 days to get your passport back. When I was in Moscow in October, it took two weeks to get my passport back. Granted, I was registering illegally since the owners of the apartment I stayed in didn’t want anything to do with the registration process. My registration was done the very Russian way—a friend of a friend of a friend who knew some babushka who worked in OVIR. She probably had 50 people registered at her apartment and making ..read more

Thanks to Johnson’s Russia List #29, we now have a place to go for information on the cosmetics industry in Russia. Cosmetics in Russia purports to be the “first online newsletter on the Russian perfumery and cosmetics market in English.” Blessed thanks. According to the site, the growth in the cosmetics market parallels general economic growth. And with that comes more concern for body image as advertisements that promote “beauty” are plastered across the cityscapes. It appears that Russians have a particular interest in oral hygiene:

In Russia oral care products make a substantial contribution to beauty industry. Oral care together with perfumery and make-up products are among the most popular cosmetics. Sales of oral hygiene contribute to 14% of total cosmetics and perfumery sales in Russia. To compare: in global cosmetics and perfumery market the share of oral ..read more

The Guardian and the Moscow Times are reporting that Coke is in negotiations with Russian bottlers to make kvas, the murky drink that has been a muzhik favorite for hundreds of years. According to Kommersant, which initially broke the story:

Several market participants informed Kommersant of Coca-Cola’s plans to set up kvas production. The company is in talks with beer and kvas producers to bottle kvas at their plants as Coca-Cola’s Russian plants do not have the necessary equipment, sources of Kommersant say. The American company is reputed to negotiate the deal with Efes, Sun Interbrew, Borodino and Polyustrovo. If the venture is a success, Coca-Cola may set up its own kvas production.

Efes did not confirm the news Thursday, saying they had been discussing the kvas production with Coca-Cola late last year. The talks have not brought any results, Efes Russia’s PR manager Kirill Ustinov told Kommersant. ..read more