Page 18 - bne_np_June_9_2017

Eastern Europe
June 9, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 18
suddenly going to produce a Proctor & Gamble or a Unilever, but there is an increase in ingenuity, productivity and a need to get things done.”
Goodwin, who has visited Moscow three times this year, has been looking at a number of targets, including staffing and training firms. He hopes to be able to cross-refer existing clients in China and India into the Russia market space as President Vladimir Putin’s much-vaunted “pivot to Asia” gathers pace.
Goodwin said his partner in China, Career Inter- national, is preparing for an IPO after recently becoming the largest “Chinese human capital company”.
Several of Antal’s leading Asian clients, includ- ing tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent, are already making inroads in Russia in terms of e- commerce sales.
The number one focus for the business will be still be energy, according to Goodwin. He noted how commodities giant Glencore, a former Antal client, had renewed its investment activity in Rus- sia this year. “Without doubt, we will see the Exx- ons, the Baker & McKenzies and the Schlumberg- ers renew their interest in the Russian market... That can’t not be in Russia because we won’t be able to wean ourselves off carbon fuels for a least another 20 years.”
Antal’s first major clients included Mikhail Kho- dorkovsky’s now defunct oil company Yukos, which was “quick to seek out the best managers and needed to use recruiters” as it sought to trans- form its corporate culture.
Goodwin, who hails from Stoke-on-Trent in northern England, started out in emerging markets in 1993 when he spotted the potential for new professional employment markets in the former Warsaw Pact countries and set up his own business named Antal – the Hungarian word for ‘Anthony’.
Since then, Goodwin and his team have devel- oped businesses in emerging markets across the globe, such as Russia, India and China, through a mix of wholly-owned operations, franchises and joint ventures.
As for naming the new Russian business, Good- win said he is unsure whether the existing license for the Antal brand in Moscow had expired.
Despite the uptick in Russia’s economy, Goodwin said it is premature to think the country can return to the boom times of the mid-2000s when 6% growth was the norm. “I am not saying we are going to see a mas- sive uptick and everyone is starting to party,” he said. “But from an entrepreneurial point of view, some areas are about to pick up so my intention is to make an acquisition in the staffing space to exploit that.”
WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Keep up to date with events in emerging Europe with the bne IntelliNews weekly newspaper, a collection of our best stories on the region, commentary and features, as well as highlighted corporate and economic news.
Sign up to receive a free copy of bne's weekly newspaper by filling out the form here.
Or go to bne.eu/welcome to see samples of this and other products.
bne:Newspaper Follow us on twitter.com/bneintellinews
Content:
2 Top Stories
4 The Regions This Week 8 Chart
9 Central Europe
11 Southeast Europe 13 Eastern Europe 16 Eurasia
18 Opinion
21 Survey
23 Lists24 Lists
March 31, 2017 www.intellinews.com
Bulgaria’s kingmaker parties to hold GERB
to ransom
bne IntelliNews
The centre-right Citizens for European Develop- ment of Bulgaria (GERB) might have won the snap parliamentary elections held on March 26, but the party is heading for tough negotiations with possible partners to gain a large enough majority to form a government, and will most likely be forced to make big compromises to stay in power.
Central Europe starts to tot up Brexit fallout
bne IntelliNews
Central European states expressed regret that the UK is leaving the EU as London triggered the Ar- ticle 50 withdrawal clause on March 29. They also quickly moved to start totting up the direct costs.
The economic effects of Brexit on Central Eu- rope are hard to pinpoint given the wide range of
Two smaller groups in the parliament – the na- tionalist United Patriots coalition and the populist Volya (Will) party – have already said they will pre- sent a united front in talks with GERB. They have also indicated they are willing to work with the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the runner-up in
See page 2
TmhaejoVrispeogwreardsr.egion will be hard hit by the loss of their closest ally amongst the bloc's
potential scenarios under which the UK will exit. However, most suggest the damage will be limited by modest direct trade ties.
In political terms, the Visegrad region will be
See page 3