Getting Started

by Ryan Markiewicz | Jun 13, 2024 | Berlin's Wall

The Business Advisory Council meeting went well. All the CEOs from the various countries gave their frank ideas about what needs to be done to enable Western businesses to invest in Ukraine.

Surprisingly, many companies have stayed in Ukraine (McDonald’s, for instance, has more stores there now than they did before the war started and is still opening new ones up). In fact, that’s one of the things we learned. Despite the war, Ukraine’s economy is actually growing.

Me in Kyiv last week, trying to grab a quick Big Mac. However, because of the increased Russian attacks on infrastructure there, they have to withstand frequent periods without electricity. Tough living with no power. And, with winter coming, energy was one of the top issues of the G7 Recovery and Reconstruction Conference. 

The first person to address the BAC was Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy.  She outlined the tough situation they face daily, but even more so, the strength, resilience, and ingenuity that Ukraine has displayed since the start of the war. It is clear to see from her and the other government officials here that Ukrainians are doing the fighting and dying to stop this aggression here and now (rather than have it continue westward) and just need the support of the democratic nations of the world.

First Deputy Prime Minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, sitting next to BAC Chairman, Christian Bruch, giving her open remarks to the Business Advisory Council.

The group at work

Proud to represent. One of the other reps from the US is Steve O’Bryan, of Northrup Grumman, the Technology/Defense company.

Secretary Penny Pritzker, US Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery was the lead US rep for this conference, and her was discussing the efforts with leading Ukraine government officials 

The BAC’s work was completed and we will follow up with further communications and meetings. We have our work cut out for us and will endeavor to make the case that it is important to invest NOW, and not wait if possible.

One thing Secretary Pritzker is working on is getting more air defense committed so that other parts of the country can be better protected.  And, the 3 US CEOs will be sending a letter to the administration asking them to better identify the actual major danger zones (by region) so that company reps can travel more easily to Ukraine and see for themselves that in a large part of the country, life goes on as usual, and though “at war,” the whole country is not a war zone. Would be good for other business leaders to be able to see that for themselves. I think there is a misconception about how things are there.

I know when people heard Derek and I were going to Ukraine, they all asked, “Aren’t you scared?”  But, honestly, in a week, we did not see many signs of war. It’s like if there was fighting in New Jersey, how endangered would folks in Chicago or LA feel?

Ukraine is a big country, and businesses CAN be there now (and many are).  As I said, their economy is growing. They are looking forward to a “Western” future and doing the fighting and dying-just asking for our support.

More of the conference tomorrow.

Night night 🙂

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Time Travel?

by Ryan Markiewicz | Jun 12, 2024 | Berlin's Wall

Well, I was going to try and do this in “time delay”, but figured I’d cover the Berlin conference as it happens, and then go back to our visit to Ukraine afterwards.

I was one of three CEOs nominated by U.S. Secretary United States Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery, Penny Pritzker, to represent our country on the newly created Business Advisory Council (BAC) for the G7’s Ukraine Reconstruction effort.

The conference in Berlin brings together the donor nations and other critical partners to determine how to best support Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction.

The BAC includes CEO and senior leaders from the UK, the EU, Netherlands, Japan, S. Korea, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Germany, France, 3 from Ukraine, and 3 from the USA–McDonald’s, Northrop Grumman, and Logistics Plus. 

Our aim is twofold, I believe. 1. To help Ukraine better improve/westernize “business conditions” so that more Western companies will invest, and 2. To help let Western businesses know that conditions in most of Ukraine (even with the war going on) are relatively safe and that you can do business there now. You don’t have to wait until this war ends to invest.

The council is run by Dr. Christian Bruch, Chairman and CEO of Siemens, the giant energy firm (and energy is one of the key needs in Ukraine that needs to be addressed.) More on that later. Smart. Well-spoken. Thoughtful. He runs a tight ship and is much younger than I pictured him (he’s in the first picture below).

Seems to me that Dr. Bruch is the right guy to lead this effort from the beginning. 

Excited to be working with him and with the team.

More to come.

Onward!!

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First Stop Germany, Then Rzeszow, Poland

by Ryan Markiewicz | Jun 11, 2024 | Berlin's Wall

Saturday, June 1st took off from JFK to Munich for the transfer to the flight to Rzeszow, Poland.

Long flight, but got about 5 hours sleep, so not all that tired when I got there. At the Munich airport lounge, I discovered the long-missing Tony Soprano enjoying his breakfast. Shhhhh. Please don’t tell anybody…

And, for you soccer fans, I walked by this store in the Munich airport:

From there, I flew to Rzeszow, Poland, where LP has been present for over 25 years. There, I had a wonderful dinner with Pawel Wronski, who has been with LP from the beginning. It was great to see him. He is a special guy and always fun to be with.

Pawel took me to a great local restaurant in the city center for a DELICIOUS bowl of Polish borscht and then pig knuckles that were also delicious.

A quick but worthwhile stop. I actually flew out a day early, so I would have a few hours in Rzeszow to see Pawel. I would have hated to rush from the plane to the train without getting to see him.  If I had left on Sunday, that’s what would have happened. But this way, I got a good night’s sleep Sunday night in the airport hotel, had this great dinner with him, shared some stories and good laughs, then got picked up to head to the train station for our ride into Kyiv.

In normal times, that would be a short flight. But as we too well know, these are not normal times there, so air travel is non-existent. Instead, it’s an 8-10 hour trip by train.

No problem there. I like trains.

On to Kyiv.

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Berlin Boys in Berlin

by Ryan Markiewicz | Jun 10, 2024 | Berlin's Wall

I was honored and fortunate to spend a wonderful week in Ukraine last week. My son, Derek, our SVP of Global Government Solutions, and I got to visit Kyiv and Odesa to see our teams there (except for our biggest office in Ivano Frankivsk—sorry, next time!) and to travel this beautiful country.

Because of the busy schedule as well as security concerns, I was not able to send any info from there, so until I catch up (IF I catch up), this will be a little “time-delayed.” I hope that does not affect the story. It was an incredible week and an honor for me to meet our teams there, to get to know them a bit, and to witness up close the tough conditions they face every day, as well as the heroism of the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom and democracy.

I am off to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin today, so I probably won’t have much time to write from here either. However, I will try to pick up the rest of the story when I return later this week. In the meantime, here are a few pics, with MUCH more to come.

Berlin boys before the meeting

Berlin boys heading to the meeting

Onward!
-JB

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Dad’s Favorite Joke

by Ryan Markiewicz | Jul 24, 2021 | Berlin's Wall

I was gonna make this a Thought for The Day, but:

1.  It is way too long (as you know, I try to keep the daily quotes short and sweet)
2. It is pretty “obtuse,” is, I guess, the word. I think many people won’t get it or see the point, but I love it and have for over 50 years.

You see, it was my Dad’s favorite joke. And, while my Dad was not particularly funny, he did have a pretty warped sense of humor. (thanks, Dad! His jokes often had deeper meanings (not sure if that was intentional or not—hopefully, it was).  Like, one of his jokes:

A homeless guy is sitting on the steps to the subway selling pencils.  A business guy stops and says, “Ok, I’ll take one. How much”.  And the homeless guy says, “A million bucks.”  And the business guy looks at him and says, “A MILLION BUCKS?  FOR A PENCIL???”  And the homeless guy replies, “Yeah, but I only gotta sell ONE!”  (Now, in this age of crazy political correctness, I am sure that joke is now considered wrong in many ways, but…back in the day…)

But that is not the joke I wanted to use for the thought of the day.  (Actually, I think I may already have—it’s kind of short enough).

Here is the joke:

I have shortened it because it was one of those jokes that went on for 10 minutes so that, in the end, you are kind of pissed off that you took so much of your time for a lousy punch line  (I TOLD you my Dad had a warped sense of humor), but back in the day, it went on forever.

But the gist of it is:

A young boy asks his mother and his father, “What is the meaning of life?”

They tell him, “Wow, that is way beyond us,” and steer him to his grandparents, his uncle, his rabbi, his high school teacher, and on and on.

And as he grows, he asks many people he meets, “What is the meaning of life?”, but nobody has a good answer.

He grows up/goes to college. Asks his professors and deans.

He goes into business/becomes successful. He asks all his successful friends, but nobody knows.

Becomes wildly successful. Gets to ask Congressmen and Senators and the President and leaders from all over the world. But still…no succinct answer.

Finally, he is an old man. Some long-time acquaintance tells him, “I have good and bad news. I have heard about some swami on a mountaintop near Tibet who knows the meaning of life. BUT…it is a long, arduous journey, and he really doesn’t speak to anyone anymore, so I don’t think you’d be able to make it, and even if you did, doubt you’d get to ask him.”

Undeterred, clearly recognizing his life’s last mission, he heads out toward Tibet. He flies over, takes a car, takes a small bus, and then has to use his cane to walk for days to the temple where this “man who knows” lives.

He finally makes it and asks for an audience but is told he must wait.

“I will wait,” he replies and settles in for days, then for weeks and for months until someone comes out and says, “he will see you now.”

He walks into the house where the man lives. Nothing fancy. An old man, nearly naked, in rags, sits on the floor and looks at him, almost as if he’d been expecting this visit, almost like he knew him for centuries.  “How can I help you, brother?”

The man can’t help himself and breaks down in tears.  Finally, he composes himself.  “I have searched my entire life for you. For nearly 100 years I’ve waited for this very moment, oh wise one.  And I have but one simple question for you. He looks up through tears eyes and asks,  “WHAT is the meaning of life?”

The old man looks at him knowingly. Smiles a soft smile and nods. Closes his eyes for a very long time before speaking:  “I will tell you the meaning of life.”

And then, after another very long silence, he speaks in a quiet but confident voice:

“Wild birds can’t fly with wet wings at night.”

The man looks at him, trying to listen fully, think deeply, be in this moment, and absorb the ultimate wisdom that he just heard. But he can’t.

Can this be the meaning of life??? Wild birds can’t fly with wet wings at night?

He slowly, sadly, shakes his head in confusion and raises his eyes to meet the eyes of this all-knowing man.

“Wild birds can’t fly with wet wings at night? What does that even mean?

WILD BIRDS CAN’T FLY WITH WET WINGS AT NIGHT????”

The swami looks at him with surprise.

“YOU MEAN THEY CAN???!!???”

Told ya it was a bad joke, but I do believe it has a powerful meaning. Don’t hate!

I miss ya, Dad.

-JB

Alligator “Hunting” on my Birthday

by Ryan Markiewicz | Jan 21, 2021 | Berlin's Wall

Well, it’s not really alligator hunting. It’s more like alligator “seeking” (and then carefully avoiding).

But (you know me)—

I was gonna embellish (lie) about the trip today like I embellished (lied) about falling off the boat during the S. America cruise last year (and, hahahahaha, everyone believed my stupid ass except my daughter Melissa and Yuriy—dumbasses!)

So, that’s what I was going to do—I was planning on telling another tall fish tale.

BUT, as they say, reality intervened (but I ended up with an even better story).

Our boat sunk. (And below are the pictures to prove it!) And not just sunk—sunk into the lake that has all these frigging alligators we’d been “seeking” (and finding for the past 2 hours).

Scary as hell. And there is NO cell service out on Okeechobee Lake.

We were having a great time with Captain Kenny, from the Louisiana bayou transplanted to Florida, seeing all kinds of alligators, from babies to 10 footers, and several water moccasins (Capt Kenny said the water moccasins are way more dangerous than the alligators— for 1. They are deadly poisonous, and 2. They are the one of the only snakes that actually attacks. Ugh!. Said you’d rather run into 10 alligators vs 1 water moccasin).

So we’re riding through the weeds (hard to believe these boats can “drive” over them, but the landscape is actually on water) when we hear a loud bang and then another loud bang and the engine blows apart and quits. Not the end of the world. We’ll just wait until someone comes along to help.

However, unbeknownst to Capt Kenny or us, one of the engine bolts that blew must have gone through the bottom of the boat because after a few minutes our feet started to get wet. Then we found the gash.

We started bailing (no pumps on these boats) but the water finds a way in and we only had our hands and a small bucket and couldn’t keep up. So slowly we started sinking. Luckily for us, the water in this part of the lake was only 3’ deep so we were ok. But the water in the boat must have leaned the boat to one side, and it suddenly tipped over and we all fell out (pics below).

Not wanting to stand in this muddy water with alligators and snakes all around, we crawled onto the side of the boat as best we could. Not that we were ever in danger of drowning but we definitely were in danger of getting attacked. Scary.

About an hour later a small fishing boat (a young guy named Tyler, from S. Carolina, who was down in Florida duck hunting) motored by and offered to help (but his boat was too small for the 3 of us to fit into). Fortunately, about 20 minutes later another airboat (Captain Steve) came by to evacuate us (before any of us got eaten alive).

Man, that was scary.  The water is only 3 feet deep—up to our waist only—but it would have been over a one-mile walk, through all the weeds and trees and plants (and you can’t even see the frigging alligators and the water moccasins because they blend in) so it was better that we just stayed on the boat until help came to ferry us to shore.  A lot safer than walking!

Glad to be alive and uneaten!!!  I wanted a birthday dinner. But I def didn’t want to BE some snake or alligator’s birthday dinner.

Whew!  One birthday I will never forget.