of the state as arbiter and enforcer of the law. President Charles de Gaulle wrote that Anglo-Saxon (Protestant) countries are obsessed with the law and its supremacy, but since the state is the enforcer of the law, in reality these societies (from the US to Finland) merely worship the state, not some abstract law, as theyplace their trust in the state's powers of arbitration and coercion. This attitude is almost absolutely alien to the Russian mind. Private and public spaces or private and public interests are not regarded as similar. The law is not supreme. Private relationship and friendship matter more than written contracts. Since traditional Orthodox Christianity is so similar to Catholicism, in fact the Russian church is known as Greek Catholic as opposed to Roman Catholic, though in Russian language the pronunciation of the word Catholic is slightly different for Roman and Greek varieties of the same religion, Russia as a society and Russians as people are far closer to the Catholic nations than they are to Protestant fringe and their overseas offshoots. Except for the brief period of the first half of disastrous 1990s, when the country's official orientation was toward the USA, a societal model and in fact nation utterly alien to the Russia and its people, Russia's undeclared historic standard and for a variety of reasons never unattained ideal is the Rhenish model, the one of Germany and France. But Russia's actual workings, the way society operates, are more like those of southern Italy. Dishonesty toward a friend or relative is considered a far more serious offense than it would be in the Protestant world while theft from the public or government is merely frowned upon. In private kickbacks are considered a normal business practice. Insider dealings are viewed as a conventional custom. People don't trust srangers, least their own government, but are quite open in their inner circles. Contracts are viewed merely as paper and frequently and quite literally are not worth the paper they are written on. Most disputes are resolved out of court. Privacy and secrecy are prized commodities. Personal relationship matters more than anything else. To people coming from societies and cultures with different values and expectations, particularly from most English-speaking countries and Scandinavia, Russia may appear an extremely difficult, in fact a bewildering place.

Companies and individuals don't want to act as importers.
Like Americans most Russians (that applies to companies as well since companies are always headed by individuals) are loath to import anything on their

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