Adventures in eastern Europe: Utah businesses go it alone.

• Author: Swaner, Michele
• Position: Beehive Machinery, the Jefferson Institute, and the Easti Group of Utah trade with the Soviet Union

ADVENTURES IN EASTERN EUROPE

On the desk of a vice president at Beehive Machinery in Sandy, Utah, sits a can of sausages. Its label, printed in Hungarian and English, proudly proclaims: "In this can is the last breath of Communism." At the Jefferson Institute in Provo, a vice president remembers a young Russian coming up to him after he was given one of the Institute's diplomas: "I feel so powerful? I can really do this. Before I had the ideas, but I didn't think I could do them. Now I know I can." In a small apartment in Romania, the president of the Easti Group, a Salt Lake City art importer, discovers a cache of dozens of beautiful paintings dating from the 1930s and 40s - all of them painted in green. "I was the only color we could get for six years," says the artist apologetically.

Although the Russian word glastnost has been art of the international business language since 1985, it was the destruction of the Berlin Wall two years ago that heralded the end of the Soviet economic system. Today, as the Soviet Union struggles to make the switch to a free-market economy, a number of Utah companies, including Beehive Machinery, the Jefferson Insitute, and the Easti Group, have found success in forging business links between the Salt Lake City-Provo area and Moscow. Despite cultural differences, occasional language barriers, disparate currencies, and other obstacles, each of these companies anticipates significant long-term growth in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Beehive Machinery

Beehive Machinery manufacturers equipment for the processing of meats, fruits, and vegetables. More than 75 percent of its business is overseas, and nearly 30 percent of its equipment is exported in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. "We've been in that part of the world for nearly 20 years," said Jim Varney, vice president of international sales. "We went there for a simple reason: Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union represent enormous market potential."

Doing Business by Committee

In the past, if Beehive wanted to do business in the Soviet Union, a Russian company would first have to define the need for Beehive's equipment. The proposal would then be submitted to a buying group representing this Russian company's industry. As hard currency became available, these buying groups would decide which companies would be able to purchase Beehive's equipment. "In those days," said Varney, "it wasn't necessary to see the individual companies. We'd put on seminars and demonstrate our equipment to as many as 200 firms at a time. Then the companies would make a recommendation to their buying groups, and we would negotiate with that group."

Varney admits that some aspects of the business were easier to accomplish prior to 1989 when the Communists were still in control. "In Eastern Europe, we dealt with a limited number of trading companies. With the new reforms sweeping these countries, we are now able to deal directly with the customer through our agents."

Nobody Does It Alone

There are a number of obstacles to overcome before doing business in the Soviet Union, including a firmly entrenched bureaucracy, cultural differences, and the lack of hard currency. "You can forget about going there and...