Reinvention with Nathan Hunt

We’re turning the tables on Nathan Hunt today - the host for the ICE/Breakers Podcast - making him the interviewee. Nathan is a Yale University graduate, summa cum laude, and a former Russia Director of the Canadian meat and dairy traders, Ronald A. Chisholm Limited.  Nathan is one of the founders of CERBA and has chaired its Moscow Chapter since its inception. He’s sharing his experience of living and doing business in rapidly changing Russia reinventing himself and discovering new potential throughout two and a half decades in the country. 

Related links:

CERBA

Ronald A.Chisholm Ltd.

LP/AD

Lada

Cherkizovo Group

Timeline:

0:00 Intro

1:19 Setting the stage

2:17 80s and early 90s speculating on cassette tapes in Russia

4:40 Chicken purchase gone afoul

7:30 Pivoting to the Canadian angle 

10:00 Late 90s/early 2000s: Pioneering new sources of meat to Russia 

12:10 CBAR inception

13:58 Time when Russia favoured Canada

15:30 Lada imports from the USSR to Canada

17:58 Punching above our weight: CERBA story

23:46 2008 recession and new beginnings 

25:36 Early 2010s: CERBA expansion to Vancouver and Kazakhstan

29:00 Hollywood Hunt: Larry King, Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher 

31:41 Let’s be honest: Jean Charest meeting with Yuri Luzhkov 

35:15 Business diplomacy 

37:26 “Russia – a lousy place to do business, a great place to make money”

38:59 “Harper, Putin to star in 1972 Summit Series rematch”

44:00 The challenges and opportunities of the pandemic and climate change 

47:04 What does the future hold for Nathan Hunt?

51:32 What made Nathan a leader?

Icebreakers is produced by CERBA, an independent non-profit organization that promotes bilateral trade and investment between Canada and Eurasia. www.cerbanet.org