Unravelling the mysteries of capex, and other tales

I've had about three weeks at Reuters so far, and it's a lot of fun.

It's strange being an intern again and feeling like you have to ask permission before doing anything, but I've been getting out and about to some interesting stories, including stalking Richard Branson at a conference at a very strange and modern innovation hub in a muddy field on the outskirts of Moscow, and trying to track down a suitably nationalistic new Russian-made limo design for President Putin.

My editor has asked to cover the transport news beat, which I feel laughably unqualified for, given that my first question about any car would normally be about the colour. I'm learning a lot though, and it turns out that business journalism isn't as impenetrable as I feared once you learn lots of jargon like 'capex' (capital expenditure) and 'LNG' (liquid natural gas) and 'leverage' (still not sure about that one).

Outside, the weather is getting very dark and cold. We had our first big snowstorm yesterday, and there’s piles of muddy slush on the streets, though I think the next batch may stick properly and it’s getting down into minus numbers consistently.

President Putin has also decided that he is going to stick with Medvedev’s somewhat controversial decision to remain in perpetual summer time, which he put in place when he was president, so we’re now four hours out of step with London, and it’s dark when I get up and when I leave work. I’m beginning to really understand some of those gloomy, ice-bound short stories by Russian authors.

Still, just eight weeks ‘til Christmas!

Tweeds at the ready.

I wrote this article (below) for the Moscow Times. What it does not say is that it was an EXTREMELY strange day, pretending to be English gentlemen in the Moscow suburbs.

I was told to turn up in a metro station at 9am and look for a lady in a pink jacket in the middle of the hall, who promptly bundled me and another journo into another taxi for a three hour journey through Moscow's notorious traffic jams out into the green belt. I will never understand why it's seen as 'elitny' to spend hours sitting in a gridlock to get out to some horribly inaccessible suburb. In fact, the journey was not supposed to take three hours, and it was not helped by waiting some time for another journo who it emerged had forgotten to get out of bed. Luckily, everyone was running at least an hour late, in true Russian style, so it didn't really matter a bit.

We finally arrived at a huge, flash shooting site, right next to a tiny village with unmade dirt roads, featuring a mountain of used up plastic shot. A wide selection of many European expats were drinking fancy coffees and served with little pastries while we got the safety chat out of the way, before heading off to the gun ranges. I was already feeling somewhat weirded out by the whole concept, and our instructor spent quite a lot of time laughing at us. Entirely unpredictably, it turned out that I am the world's worst shot, and too weak to hold up the rifle over extended periods without considerable pain. It was freezing, and the shooting went on for hours and hours. I managed to hit one shot, entirely by mistake, from a possible 38 (plus practice attempts). At last it was over and were allowed to retreat back to the warm clubhouse, where my mood was lightened by the appearance of some cocktails made with Hendricks gin, which is wildly expensive in Russia. We then had an Italian meal as imagined by provincial Russians before the assorted businessmen were invited to bid on artworks and trips. It culminated in the sale of a (perfectly ordinary) glass of whiskey for $500, rather like the single roses that would be auctioned off for huge sums in clubs in the 80s to show off how much money you could spend.

Anyway, it was all for a good cause and very interesting, but I think I might leave the offer of another trip to next year's event unclaimed...


"Hold the gun to your cheek, look down the barrel, follow the target and fire!" the guide orders as another would be shooter tries in vain to turn a brightly-colored clay target into a puff of pink smoke with one well-aimed shot.

Not everyone is a natural sharp-shooter but whether hitting the target or not participants at Moscow's first ever charity clay pigeon tournament were helping a charity that takes aim at the complex issues facing hundreds of orphans and special needs children.

Dozens of executives from top companies turned out for the contest on Friday, run by Moscow-based charity Step Up, which provides education and support for young people leaving institutions to live
independently for the first time. Organisers hope that the unusual choice of event will help turn it into one of the fixtures of the Moscow social calender and help them expand their work into the regions.

The concept was taken up with enthusiasm by around 50 Russian and expats taking part in the tournament at the Fox Lodge shooting club outside Moscow. Among the crack of gunshots, little cheers could be
heard drifting up from teams dotted over the huge course as shooters found their mark, while others jokingly suggested that getting faces printed onto the targets might help improve their aim.

In the event, the commiseration prize for the worst team was accepted by a journalists team, while the "Angry Birds" were crowned best team. They claimed that hours of virtual target practice on the hugely popular game had given them the competitive advantage.

"We played to win," joked Lincoln International CEO Andre Joosten. "Practising Angry Birds has definitely been our preparation for this game."

After finishing the shooting, competitors warmed up over a drink, before bidding on artwork and tours, and a glass of single malt whiskey auctioned off for $500, which brought the total raised over the day to around $40,000 dollars.

Event organiser and Step Up board member Vitaly Farafonov said the money will be used to set up a fund that will help secure the charity's future, allowing them to focus more time on their work with young people.

"Eighteen months ago Step Up was in a very bad place and financially we were realising that we could not pay people," he said. "What we want to do is to build up a pot of money that will give us six months security."

"The next step will be regional expansion, to copy and paste our model in the regions."

Farafonov hopes that the event will help the charity stand out from the crowd, as well as help them develop relationships with potential corporate sponsors.

"Moscow is so saturated," he said, "If you organise another ball, people are going to be bored. This is different, this is unique."

Many of those taking part agreed they had been attracted by the chance to get out of the city and try something a bit different in aid of a good cause.

Jonathan Muir, chief financial officer at TNK-BP, which sponsored the day and sent around ten people in two teams, said he had enjoyed a change from the usual charity golf tournaments and parties.

"This is different - it's out there, it's unusual, and that's nice," he said. "I hope it is successful, I hope it comes back next year and if I am still here I will definitely be participating."

Similarly, PriceWaterhouseCooopers partner Michael Harle said: "It made sense to come along and it's good to spend an afternoon letting some frustration out. It also takes you out of your comfort zone a bit and it's a beautiful location."

"I think I can leave with my head held high because I didn't hit any of my team mates."

Step Up charity director and co-founder Olga Tikhomirova said in a speech to guests that she was happy that the day turned out well.

"We were very worried about how it would turn out, and so we're very happy that it all worked out," she said, "We hope to learn from this year and make it even better next year."

***See www.vverh.su for more details about Step Up.***