Telenor at Russian Roundtable
On Wednesday this week, Kjell Morten Johnsen, Head of Telenor Russia, participated in two sessions designed to promote the dialogue between business representatives and the Russian government.
"Reciprocity is the key word going forward", Johnsen said during the first roundtable discussion. "Russia will see a continued increase in foreign direct investments in the years to come, at the same time Russian companies will be looking for further investment opportunities in the West. Both the Russian government and companies like Telenor can facilitate this positive process," he said.
Paul Melling, Partner, Baker & McKenzie and Kjell Morten Johnsen, Head of Telenor Russia.
Business-to-business discussion
The first panel session where Johnsen spoke was a business-to-business discussion. His conversation partners were billionaire and the recently-named wealthiest man in Russia, head of aluminum conglomerate Basic Element, Oleg Deripaska, as well as partner of Ernst & Young Russia, Karl Johansson.Johnsen, Deripaska and Johansson discussed:
Russia's economic growth
Russia's possible accession to the World Trade Organization
the involvement of governments in the economy
Russian companies' expansion to the West
difficulties that foreign investors face in Russia
Human resources issues.
Future strategic investment programs in Russia
The second session of the day, "Business meets Government", was joined by the Russian Deputy Minister of Finance Mr. Sergey Shatalov. The discussions and questions like the state of the Russian reforms and the shape of future strategic investment programs were debated. Image of Russia abroad was one of the important topics, on which Kjell provided his expert opinion.
One of the people who came especially to listen to Telenor officials was Øyvind Nordsletten, Norwegian Royal Ambassador to the Russian Federation.
Excellent exposure of Telenor
"I am very happy with our participation in the Roundtable", said Natalia Schneider, Telenor Russia's Corporate Affairs Director. "The fact that Kjell participated in two sessions - a purely B2B one and the other headed by the government official - gave Telenor excellent exposure with a wide audience and created a platform to express varied views."
Telenor Russia was also the general sponsor of the Economist 10th Russian Roundtable.