When I lived in Moscow, I was the Chairman for a company called Soviet American International Company (Sovaminco), whose American partner was called Unicorn Investments Inc.; a company that was listed as number seven in the top 25 American companies that had entered into a joint venture in the Soviet Union.
Working at Sovaminco was a guy called Yuri Budakov who was fluent in English, ex KGB, and his father was a retired admiral. One day, he asked me if I would like a trip down a tributary of the Moscow River to visit a navy base. I was always up for experiencing something new, so I got in a navy launch, outside of Moscow with Yuri and we went down the river for many miles, before pulling into a little navy encampment where I was due to stay the night. On arrival, Yuri stated that we were going to have barbecued lamb for dinner and he subsequently took out a Swiss army knife so he could kill, gut and skin the lamb before putting it on the barbecue so we could enjoy it later that day.
Yuri then said, “We need to visit the ladies down the river, would you like to come?” Naturally, I wondered what ladies he was talking about but I absolutely wanted to go.
We meandered about one mile down the river to where there were two houses on the river bank, with one cow grazing and a couple of chickens scavenging in the soil. There, I met three single ladies living in this remote river hamlet; two sisters in their late sixties and another lady who was about 63. They welcomed us by giving us a traditional Russian offering of milk and bread and took us into their homes. Through conversation, which was of course translated to me, it transpired that I was the first foreigner that they had seen since 1943 when the Nazis had passed through that area on their way to Moscow. I found this remarkable. Whilst they had very little, they seemed very content with their lives, so I guess in their eyes they had everything. Yuri explained that the Navy had been visiting those ladies, to see that they weren’t wanting for anything, every week since they could remember.
We returned to the camp that night and had a feast of barbecued lamb and were also eaten alive by mosquitos.
