Vinnare uppsatsstipendium 2021

The winners of the 2021 Thesis Award granted by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for Russia & CIS (SRCC) in co-operation with the Institution for Russian and Eurasian Studies (IRES) at Uppsala University are Mr. Arran Pickwick and Ms. Karina Asratian for their master thesis “The Impact of Corruption on Swedish Firms Operating in Russia”  presented at the Department of Business Studies at Uppsala University June 2020. 

A total of 14 contributions for the thesis award were submitted and evaluated, covering a wide variety of topics.

The winning thesis addresses a subject which is of utmost concern for all companies involved in international business. It is a topic which is very often mentioned when it comes to business with Russia and many other emerging economies, but can be very hard to find objective facts about. And this thesis gives a valuable contribution to our understanding of systemic corruption and the conditions many firms face when doing business in Russia. 

The thesis makes a good effort to analyze and systemize various types of corruption. It also gives a description of how corruption is viewed and handled by different levels of Swedish multinational companies. In a globalized and increasingly transparent world the need to adhere to CSR requirements and keep a high level of compliance with existing regulation is essential for all companies. The thesis provides a good understanding for the background of this topic in Russia and other countries of former USSR. It also makes several references to other relevant and useful research of this theme.

We congratulate Arran Pickwick and Karina Asratian for an excellent contribution to a better understanding of this topic!

We wish them all success in their further endeavors and careers!

Heinz Sjögren
CEO, SRCC

Kaj Hobér
Chairman, SRCC

Claes Levinsson
Prefect, IRES