Pekka Viljakainen, Advisor to the Skolkovo Foundation, is certain that we will see Russians buying European companies in the coming years. He stated at the EBN 21st Annual Congress and EU-Russia Innovation Forum in Lappeenranta today that we all should learn about the Russian business culture.

“We have to understand how to work together. It is crucial to Russian and other European business people. It might be that the owner of a European company speaks only Russian,” said Viljakainen. Russian companies are led by a significantly younger generation than European ones. The young managers are open-minded and demand transparent leadership. ”If you look at the leading people in Russian companies, they are about ten years younger than, for example, in Finland. The generation shift is taking place now,” said Viljakainen.

The EBN Congress and EU-Russia Innovation Forum continue until tomorrow, Friday. The three-day event has gathered over 800 participants to Lappeenranta from 34 different countries. The event has 130 speakers.