Anatomy of a Russian launch: paper, publishers and presses were scarce, but Business Week forged ahead.,

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, July, 1990 by Lisa I. Fried

Moscow-Business Week has learned what Russian consumers have known for years: To get what you want in the USSR, you wait.

After more than a year of horse trading for printing, paper and publishing partners, 50,000 copies of the pilot issue of Business Week/USSR should finally be printed and distributed in the Soviet Union this month.

Even though Business Week is no stranger to tough publishing conditions - the magazine puts out a Hungarian and a Chinese edition-the Russian market has proved the greatest challenge. "You need a lot of patience, and it's a long, long process, " explains Gerd Hinske, vice president and publisher. "The USSR is probably the most complicated market of all."

For example, Business Week found that Soviet publishers with magazine expertise don't exist. Nor does the USSR produce enough paper to fill the magazine's pages. And the web press has yet to make its debut.

Even after leaping these hurdles, Business Week was unable to complete its pilot for a planned May premiere: The Finnish paper supplier held up delivery for a month, and Business Week couldn't get through on the antiquated Russian phone systems to discuss the problem.

The magazine began its Russian venture in 1988, with a search for a Soviet publishing partner. At the time, the goals were clear: The Russian edition had to adhere to minimum editorial and production standards. Editorial from the United States and international editions of Business Week had to be faithfully translated into Russian. And censorship would be unacceptable. Government partner

Hinske, a European, spent a year discussing the venture with Soviet partners, then joined forces with Moscowbased Kniga Publishers, a unit of the USSR state committee for publishing, printing and book trade. An agreement was reached wherein Kniga would translate stories it chose from Business Week's U.S. and international editions, and Business Week would provide the articles and graphics. Kniga's main editorial interest, Hinske says, is case histories of companies. It also prefers stories on high-tech developments and general business management.

After editorial had been ironed out, U.S. production director Mario Talluto was flown in to tackle the logistics, which included finding a paper supplier and ensuring that the printer, equipped with only a sheetfed press, could handle the job. Minsk Colour Printing was chosen for the printing job because, to Talluto's pleasant surprise, it produced quality four-color work.

But Business Week found a less pleasant surprise in timing. It would take about three weeks to complete translations in the USSR and check them in New York City; printing on the sheet-fed press would take another three weeks. "When I told them how fast we can produce and print Business Week [in the United States], I got a blank stare," Talluto recalls.

A Soviet state-run distributor is handling circulation, and Hinske hopes for a list of 15,000 to 20,000 qualified subscribers by September. Soviet firms with export rights are being targeted. Within five years, Business Week executives hope for a circulation of 500,000.

In addition, 30,000 pilot copies will be distributed free and a news stand supply of 5,000 will be offered in Moscow and other cities. Revenue from the pricey subscriptions-to be sold at 60 rubles, or about $96, for 12 monthly issues-will be left in the Soviet Union to pay for printing and production.

Business Week is handling advertising sales, which Hinske expects to be made largely in Europe. Eventually, Kniga hopes to initiate ad sales within Russia. All ad revenue, which will come in as U.S. dollars, will be split between Kniga and Business Week.

Right now, Business Week is determined to take its Russian edition bimonthly in September 1990 and monthly by january 1991. "We see Russia as an expanding market," Talluto says. "They're hungry for information. "