Philip Owen is an Engineering Scientist who spend over 20 years working in new product development until ICI, his employer at the time, received the benefit of financial advice from the City of London and borrowed too much money. For 10 years he worked independently as an innovation consultant helping organisations such as the European Space Agency and the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency turn their ideas into civilian products. This brought him into contact with Russian technology almost from the beginning. Extraordinarily, neither side has asked him to be a spy. After the dotcom collapse caused all UK R&D spending to decline, he moved his business focus to advising on trade and investment in Russia, where it has been ever since. He owned a consulting firm in Russia where he spent considerable time. After 24 years of dealing with Russia, he is full of improperly formed opinions (they are formed on real experience) about Russian life and politics.