Georges Barbey’s office in LANXESS headquarters in Leverkusen is furnished only with the bare necessities: a desk, computer, and a few filing cabinets. Barbey hasn’t bothered to give it any flair. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise: the manager’s area of responsibility actually is at a different location altogether — almost 2,400 kilometers to the east, in Moscow. The native of France has been with the specialty chemicals company since October 2007. His mission is to lead LANXESS to success in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Barbey worked on the project for more than a year, and since then he has been traveling constantly between Leverkusen and Moscow. Now, with the preparation phase of the project completed, he will be based almost exclusively in Russia. Founded in mid-2008, the LANXESS national subsidiary began operations effective January 1, 2009. And now, in mid-March 2009, the newly built office is being opened — and it’s time for the work to begin.