News

AmCham Event – “Snapshot of a Changing Landscape"

2026-04-13 10:00 News
On March 31, 2026, The American Chamber of Commerce in Russia hosted a special business event titled "Snapshot of a Changing Landscape" at the AmCham Moscow office and online. The event was focused on discussing current business environment shifts in the current global situation. Speakers included;

Robert Agee AmCham president, moderator

Natalia Bochkova, CEO, Wellgo Group

Wijnand Herinckx, Owner, Herinckx Trade Solutions

Denis Panov,Ph.D., Managing Partner,Teamship

The event opened with an introduction by Robert Agee, who introduced the speakers and set the scene for the discussion by a short summary of the current geo-political environment.

Business Survey by Teamship company

Mr Denis Panov then presented the 8th business survey compiled by his company, Teamship. The presentation took a novel and interactive approach, garnering audience opinions via a QR code, which were summarised by the “AhaSlides” app.

An example result was displayed as
The presentation included anecdotal comments on the business environment from several industry leaders and analysts who commented on business mood and challenges from the general and HR perspectives. The survey covered 234 respondents from Russian and European countries.

Logistics – key concern in the current Global Situation - WELLGO Group

Second to present was Natalia Bochkova, CEO of the Wellgo Group of companies. Natalia presented a highly comprehensive overview of the current Logistics and Supply Chain issues and solutions the company faces on a daily basis.
An example slide from Natalia’s presentation, topically covering the Russia – Middle East trade route – one of five such Trade Lane overviews, covering the main Trade Lanes exploited today.
Of particular note in the Freight Forwarding and Logistics sector are:
  • Geopolitical risk, becoming an ever-present driver of volatility, as opposed to atural disasters and pandemics
  • Disrupted Supply Chain networks forcing increased logistics effort, increased resilience and additional costs – e.g. fuel
  • Reduction of friendly regimes adds to the administrative burden
Natalia offered this slide as helping towards mitigation:
Partnerships are key.
Risk assessments are essential.
Business Continuity and alternatives / backup plans must be created
Financial reassessment across the board – cash flow, insurance, commitments, order books, stock etc.
Natalia summarised with some interesting aspects for AmCham members to consider;

Wellgo take a risk assessment approach and we advise our customers to do the same. Further points include;

Systems and Staff provide a fast response at all times. Flexibility is key, and expectations need to bear in mind the ever-changing business landscape today.
  • New, alternative routings, modes of transport and scheduling are becoming essential attributes of logistics project management. Be prepared for a joint approach to evaluate and test logistics scenarios collaboratively.
  • Be open to a partnership approach to your logistics / supply chain provider to maintain efficiency and optimum results in these trying times.
WELLGO offer a monthly “Transport Update” in both Russian and English on their web site www.wellgo.ru which offers any audience a comprehensive overview of market movements, issues and solutions. All readers are welcome to comment and contact specialists for further advice.

Local Sourcing and Payments – Herinckx Trade Solutions

The third presenter, Wijnand Herinckx, of Herinckx Trade Solutions, gave an overview of payments, and local sourcing alternatives – i.e. procurement. Essentially, he suggested most products are available with the following characteristics:
  • Sanctions have disrupted traditional procurement — not eliminated demand;
  • Most consumer goods and a wide range of industrial products remain available locally
  • The key variable is no longer what can be sourced, but how — and through whom.
Various scenarios were presented in this regard.

Secondly, on payments, the 4 main methods were described, as Crypto, Main Banks, Payment Agents and re-assignment or debt transfer. The recommendation from HTS is for and Indirect payment option with a Trade House. In this case the Supplier sells to non-Russian entity, and gets paid from this entity. The payment challenge is solved through the payment agent.

Finally, Robert Agee wrapped up the session by thanking the speakers and the audience, handling a few questions at the end. All in all, a very interesting and insightful discussion, with both anecdotal and factual information presented in a professional and engaging manner.