Russian Agro-sector is switching to Green-Tech

Russian Agro-sector is switching to Green-Tech

The market for environmentally friendly technologies in the agricultural sector is developing dynamically in Russia, its volume is already approaching 1 billion euros. Some Russian experts noted that although the industry is still quite young, it is already attracting great interest from investors. "In 2019, private investments in Russian green agricultural startups amounted to about 2 billion euros," said Nadezhda Orlova, head of the Department of Economics of Innovation in Agriculture at the Institute of Agricultural Research of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Moscow.

According to her, there are long-term strategic programs in Europe and the United States to promote green agricultural technologies. So far, these programs are lacking in Russia. China is also becoming one of the world's largest producers and consumers of greentech. Russian manufacturers are therefore increasingly using imported solutions. "If the trend of increasing imports continues, we will find ourselves in a situation where markets for exclusively foreign biotechnologies will develop in Russia." noted Vladimir Avdeenko, Head of the Directorate for the Development of Agricultural and Biotechnologies of Innopraktika.

In order not to leave this market only to foreign companies, last year Innopraktika launched the long-term Innagro project - a program for testing biological products for agriculture, involving 21 regions and more than 100 agricultural companies. One of the first companies involved was Phosagro. Phosagro CEO Andrey Guryev said that an important step on the way to a share of Russian technologies in the green tech market was made in June 2021, when the Law on Agricultural Products, Raw Materials and Food with Improved Properties was signed.


A "green standard" for agricultural products will also be introduced in Russia in March 2022.

Source: Russia Business Today

Increase sales with minimal investment: website and social media marketing, targeted for the Russian market

Increase sales with minimal investment: website and social media marketing, targeted for the Russian market

Russia is large 
First, to understand why Russia is interesting for you as a market: 145 million people. Largest online audience in Europe. 30% of the world's natural resources. Strong Oil & Gas, Chemical, and Mining Industries with an appetite for Western technology and machines. These figures show that Russia covers more than most of the markets that are eligible for global business development. Nevertheless, Russia is often seen by Western companies as a market that tends to be viewed at the bottom of the league. Everything we hear in the news, trade sanctions, political tensions and relatively slow economic growth have given Russia an unfortunate reputation in recent years.

Europe-friendly and online 
While there is truth in these points, they also mean that the untapped potential for Western companies is correspondingly high, which can be reaped with good profits for those who take the step to get involved. For most types of companies, there are many reasons to consider Russia as a perfect expansion market. In Russia, there is a steadily growing interest in foreign industrial and technical products. European brands are considered more reliable and of better quality than machines of Russian or Asian/Chinese origin. China has partially filled the gaps recently. They now account for a much larger share of Russian imports of machinery and consumer goods than 5 years ago. However, habits and perceptions of quality take decades to change completely, and if presented in the right way with the right attitude and care, European products generally still are preferred. Moreover, Moscow and St. Petersburg are much further in the transition to digital societies than many European countries. Russia has the largest online audience in Europe and the eighth largest in the world, with almost 40 million Internet users more than Germany. Most recently, online trade in Russia has reached a volume of 31 billion dollars and is expected to double by 2025. Russians are a very digital society in their daily lives. Paying taxes or other communication with authorities and banks, calling taxis, paying parking, ordering food is largely done online. Only a few years ago, Russian private consumers were still hesitant to shop online with foreign providers. This has changed. Trust in cross-border transactions is growing thanks to the increased quality of finance and logistics.

Language is an issue 
All this new openness to cross-border trade does not mean, however, that one can rely on English as language of communication. Only 3% of Russians speak fluent English. Hence, to reach the other 97%, you need to localize your content into Russian. You need Russian native speakers engaging with your audience, who understand the nuances of the language and know how to use them for effective marketing.

Social media is important 
Social media is an important marketing channel all over the world. Also in Russia. But here the social media landscape is a bit different than we are used to. In the West, the vast majority of us google things, make business contacts in Linkedin or Xing, and connect with friends via Facebook. In Russia, Google and Facebook have much less reach, only 35% and 10% of the market share respectively. LinkedIn is officially banned on the Russian territory; the page cannot be accessed. Russians prefer the search engine Yandex and the Facebook clone VK, or Odnoklassniki, another social network for the slightly older generation. There is no real equivalent for a business network like LinkedIn yet. Professionali.ru, a similar network, focuses mainly on job search aspects, not on networking and content delivery. Nevertheless, you should know that Russians spend more time in social media than users in any other country. 

Ready to engage 
If you take these things into account and set up your online approach with the right partner, a website and a social media campaign can be great to connect with the Russian audience in B2B and B2C without having to have an own company in Russia.

Go to our turn-key website services to find out about our offerings: www.russianwebsites.de

 

Growth 2021: Why sales outsourcing (sales-as-a-service) should be in your business plan

Growth 2021: Why sales outsourcing (sales-as-a-service) should be in your business plan

Perfect for international growth
Often smaller companies want to grow internationally, but their ad-hoc sales structures and overloaded sales team hold them back. When start-ups or mid-sized companies have difficulty increasing sales and scaling their business, it's not always because they lack opportunities, but often because their internal sales team can't keep up.

 Sales-as-a-Service is faster
From our experience as a modern sales-as-a-service provider, we know that companies that add internal reach to their sales team often need eight to twelve months to build their team into an internationally productive department. By contrast, adding to your sales team with a partner such as BS International means that you can achieve the same results in a fraction of the time at a lower cost.

 More experienced and focused
What the outsourcing of sales offers you is scalability, speed and focus. The assigned team is a dedicated resource that is 100% committed to bringing revenue to your business in the niche or region focused on. It enables you to increase revenue more quickly by eliminating time-consuming steps such as internal recruitment and lengthy familiarization with the market conditions. Sales-as-a-Service teams require a shorter ramp-up time to learn about  the product, typically six to eight weeks, from engagement to productive lead generation.

 Increase your flexibility
In a more and more volatile business environment, flexibility is of the utmost importance. You need your ability to scale your sales efforts and costs to keep pace with ever-changing market opportunities. With a sales-as-a-service provider, you can scale up or down as needed.

 Use sales-as-a-service teams as business development drivers
Of course, outsourcing your sales team allows you to switch to a more cost-effective sales culture. But it's not just about reducing costs. From the savings your company can achieve by hiring an outsourced sales team, the perspective shifts from "How much can we save by partially outsourcing sales?" to "How much more revenue can we generate by adding experience?”

Why sales outsourcing is the best way to reach new markets in Russia

Why sales outsourcing is the best way to reach new markets in Russia

  • Outsourced sales teams are local, experienced, and Ready-To-Go.
  • It avoids costs associated with legal, company setup, recruiting, hiring, training, office rental.
  • It is highly scalable.
  • Sales outsourcing means you can hit those small, fruitful niches and verticals, you usually do not have time for.
  • It comes at a much lower risk.
  • It uses all digital marketing and sales channels for lead generation.
  • It is highly agile in cooperation with your processes and teams.

 

Check out our sales outsourcing services: https://bsinter.de/en/sales/salesservices.html
Or our project management services: https://bsinter.de/en/project-management/pmservices.html