Russians

"And yet, no amount of preparation could eliminate surprises. Bidwill remembers wandering around after the purchase was completed thinking, ‘OK, what have we bought?’ They found warehouses full of Lada cars and tractors that Tappendens had taken from Amalgamated Dairies, which had earlier traded them with the Russians for mutton. How on earth would they sell these ‘awful, old-fashioned, outdated cars?’ Not easily, was the answer, although the tractors weren’t too bad."

"In Putin’s first eight years, he stabilised the economy, curbed the oligarchs’ influence and their looting and strengthened the state immensely. He was an absolute hero to the vast majority of Russians who craved a strong leader to ensure a strong Russia that would project its power internationally. People in the West forget this today and don’t really appreciate the horrible state of Russia for its inhabitants when Putin took over, or the Herculean task of turning it around when he took the reins of state control."