“Dialogue with Government: A Practical Guide for Shareholders and Senior Management” is a book by Eduard Voytenko, CEO and Managing Partner of Baikal Lobridge, and Anastasia Parfenchikova, Partner at the company. It is dedicated to business–government engagement and written specifically for shareholders, business owners, CEOs, and senior management.
The authors proceed from the premise that, in today’s economy, government can no longer be viewed solely as an external regulator. Its decisions directly affect companies’ access to markets and resources, investment opportunities, asset values, project timelines, and the resilience of business models. A single regulatory change can materially affect the economics of a project or an entire industry, making GR an integral part of strategic business management. A company’s long-term development increasingly depends on whether C-level executives understand the importance of the GR function and its connection to the company’s strategic priorities.
One of the book’s central ideas is the transition from viewing GR as a set of personal contacts and ad hoc decisions to treating it as a managed corporate function — in other words, as a managerial and economic function.
Particular attention is paid to assessing the effectiveness of GR. The book examines approaches to measuring its economic impact, including avoided losses, preserved profits, attracted investment, access to government support measures, and reduced regulatory risks.
Another section focuses on the internal architecture of GR within a company: how to organize the work of a GR Director and align the function with Legal, PR, Compliance, Finance, and Commercial teams. The book also offers a practical approach to developing a GR strategy — from understanding its role and defining objectives to assessing whether such a strategy is necessary for a particular company and applying it amid political and regulatory turbulence.
Separate chapters address the hiring of GR Directors and the role of specialized consultants in the corporate sector. The authors also examine emerging professional tools, including the use of artificial intelligence in regulatory monitoring and analytics.
“Dialogue with Government” is the third book on GR and lobbying co-authored by Eduard Voytenko and Anastasia Parfenchikova. Their previous publications were “Lobbying and GR: Concepts, Functions, Tools” and “Regulation of GR and Lobbying in Russia: Status Quo or the Search for New Solutions.”
While the previous books focused on the structure of the profession, GR and lobbying tools, and regulation of the field, the new publication shifts the focus to corporate governance and addresses a central question: how should those who own and manage businesses approach engagement with government?
“Dialogue with Government: A Practical Guide for Shareholders and Senior Management” is now available to order on the website in the “Professional Literature” section, as well as from bookstores and major online marketplaces.