Tough Business

I put aside my emotions and consider events from an unbiased point of view.

Author

© Vladimir Baranchikov, 2023

ISBN 978-5-0060-6593-2

Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero

Prologue

On one incessant dark morning on December fourteenth, 1995, policemen from the DCEC – Department for Combating Economic Crimes – and, for solidity, a bus with riot police drove up to our office. Parallelepipeds in uniform and with machine guns blocked the entire building and penetrated to our floor, put guards at the entrance and exit, suppressed those present with glances and the shine of trunks, ordered: do not walk, do not call, do not turn on computers, do not answer calls. One-two! But, of course, it is difficult to arrest thirty offices at the same time, and in this situation the warning signal went to our leaders – unlike the «mattress period» they did not appear in the office in such situations, and the armed detachment was met not by «evil Chechens», but by peaceful citizens of Slavic and not quite nationality with no hint of aggressiveness on honest faces. Safes were opened, documentation and computer data were seized, ridiculous questions were asked:

– Why do you keep your driver’s license in a safe?

But something still managed to hide from the watchful eye of the authorities. Quite recently, a young and well-mannered girl named Dasha came to work for us as a secretary, her original appearance and the look of the child always evoked sympathy and an involuntary smile. So this incarnate innocence managed to hide two of the most important folders on her chair, sitting in her most beautiful place on these papers and sitting on them for as long as it was necessary in the classic pose of a student of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens. Nevertheless, despite the intrepidity and firmness of the staff, the work of several companies was virtually paralyzed, and investigative actions continued for two weeks – the study of accounting and commercial documents, the inquiry of persons involved in the business, and so on. Why suddenly to us, and not to the neighbors? That’s what I’m talking about in this book.

Do I have the right to tell my story this way, does it truly reflect that difficult time, did it really happen to me, are other actors represented as impartially as possible? I think not, this is the view of one person, a subjective picture of a small period of time, twenty years, from the end of the last and the beginning of this century, however, the events described really took place, and the characters are real, but due to certain circumstances their names and surnames have been changed. If the persons mentioned here have a different point of view or interpretation of what happened, the author will gratefully accept their opinion, however, as well as the opinion of readers.

Chapter one. Beginning

St. Petersburg, December 1992. Three middle-aged men smoke on the stairs of a yellow office building on Suvorovsky Avenue. An ordinary conversation during a short rest, unhurried and full of free topics.

One of the interlocutors shared the news:

– A friend got a job with some serious people.

– And here he is looking for a job, – my friend and colleague Kostya reacted quickly and very correctly, pointing at me.

– Can you give me a friend’s phone number? – I decided to take the bull by the horns right away.

– Write it down.

My career at the Peleng company was coming to an end. Two and a half years of interesting and hard work, the search for new ways – advertising, exhibitions, the St. Petersburg stock Exchange, the director of a brokerage office, the first contacts with foreign businessmen – all this was fresh, interesting, unusual. A youth team, purposeful people with healthy ambitions, fun holidays… I was grateful to these guys, but our paths diverged – I wanted something bigger, large-scale. All this time I had to improve my business English on my own – letters, contracts, methods of communication by phone. And Volodya was lured here from the position of head of the planning and economic department of the NGO Krasnoznamenets, where we had previously worked together. In the evening I call on the home phone of a «friend» and hear:

– We are engaged in business promotion, the green conversion line…

I immediately realized that there were no specifics, and directed the conversation in the right direction:

– Vsevolod Valentinovich, trade operations and foreign partners are closer to me. – Pause.

– Well, then you need to go to Felix Andreevich, he’s doing it.

– Can you give me a phone number?

So, carefully pulling the thread so as not to break, I found a specialist who was engaged in an interesting business for me.

– Come here! – Felix Andreevich was attentive, polite and specific in a conversation with a stranger. So far, everything has been surprisingly easy.

The place for the meeting is familiar to me – the Central Research Institute Rumb, the industry information center of the shipbuilding industry of the country. I was here, on Zaitseva Street, about five years ago, during the Soviet Union – a secret organization, security clearances. And today, without these difficulties. A solid Stalinist building with white half-columns, wide staircases, large windows, high ceilings is a place where it is prestigious to work. Or, in modern terms, «cool»…

Felix Andreevich’s office is spacious, as befits the head of the foreign economic department of a solid organization. The owner himself is located at a large table to the right of the door, on the table are business papers, a couple of telephones and a mauser (just kidding). The amazing thing is that I immediately took a liking to this extraordinary man. A thick-set brunette of about sixty with confident manners, a handsome manly face whitened with gray hair and life experience with a prepossessing smile. The presentation of my story and the desire to burn at work was received favorably. During the conversation, he X-rayed me with the attentive gaze of his gray eyes and read emotions like an experienced psychologist. But there was no feeling of discomfort or tension, despite the importance of this dialogue. I was given to understand – he will report to the management and he will inform the decision. I was happy, I wanted to work here and do exactly that, and it was with you, Felix Andreevich – that’s how the stars came together…

Two weeks later I received a second invitation. Felix Andreevich gave a short briefing in the same office – you are going to my boss, the Vice president for Foreign Economic Activity for an interview. How are you with English: if you stumble, you will have a saving phrase… The way to victory is to go through a fashionable reception room with two assistant secretaries and enter the cherished double door.

At the table is a young man, no older than twenty-five, tall and handsome, fashionably dressed. There is a laptop on the table, expensive office furniture and office equipment in the room, the owner skillfully owns it for the good of the organization and, without any doubt, demands the same from subordinates. Bold, determined, from another, rich and successful world: it was felt immediately. Oleg Borisovich. The acquaintance took place, I presented a number of documents by correspondence with the Americans, but I blurred the story in English – I was very worried. After the conversation, Felix Andreevich went to the chief and returned with an answer – the decision has not been made.

– Call me in a week, – he encouraged me. It was hard to expect anything else.

The third attempt took place ten days later again in Oleg Borisovich’s office. But there was one significant change – there was another young man, a light-eyed blond with a strong-willed face, in a white shirt, and he was sitting next to the owner of the office, closer to me, but it felt like this man would decide my fate now, and all this time it was his decision that was being waited for. Surprisingly, the interview was friendly in nature, unlike the previous «exam», my counterparts even smiled after my story about how I earned a million rubles on one transaction – it was felt that their scale was about two higher. Perhaps they liked my frankness, my obvious desire to rush into battle. My insufficient knowledge of English for the main person was not decisive at that moment – we need workhorses, and then we’ll see… Later Felix Andreevich told me the good news – I was accepted! Of course, with a trial period.

February sixteenth, 1993 – my first working day at JSC Financial Association Holding.

– While you sit here, – Felix Andreevich allocates me a table in his apartment, and sends my colleague Sergei Nikolaevich behind the wall, to a separate office. By the way, today is his birthday, but I’ll find out about it later. Sergey Nikolaevich Muzychenko has been working for two weeks, has a humanitarian university with philology behind him, a former English teacher, a head taller in a foreign language than me, a rocket technician, and we have a polite mutual understanding with elements of rivalry in the same boat.

And here is the first task. Intelligent Felix Andreevich said that the company’s management had an idea – the organization of assembly production of video recorders from imported components in our building (!), and I was instructed to work out this idea promptly and report on the results. By entrusting this, he made it clear to me that the money here is not paid in vain, and took away from himself the beloved sword of Damocles of imminent reckoning and possible consequences. He deliberately did not indicate his attitude to this idea, leaving me to think on my own. Intuition told me that the second day could be the last if my conclusions did not satisfy someone. I got bored, but soon I realized that there was a chance to present it in a language understandable to the customer. Fifteen years of experience in the scientific and industrial sphere is no joke, I am an engineer and a patent specialist, I have been to workshops and worked out technologies from blanks to the final product with my own hands, tested detonation means (in other words, I lit a fire – a conductive cord with a detonator). In other words, he smelled gunpowder in the literal sense of the word. Therefore, in this situation, it was necessary, without going into technical and organizational wilds, to tactfully say «no» in a language understandable to the management. Felix called someone, and I was offered to inspect the «future production facilities» – being located on the territory of Rumb, the holding used the services we were interested in (for example, a printing house), crowding the native institute and gradually seizing corridor after corridor, floor after floor, peacefully coexisting.

So, on the second floor, a stranger from the institute accompanies me and leads me to a local apocalypse – a huge room cluttered with various kinds of metal fasteners, remnants of ventilation, hanging wires and construction debris. The employee who met us looked at me with great interest – as a resident from another planet. I didn’t meet his expectations by asking a simple question:

– Was there an EC-1020 here?

– Yes, – he replied with surprise.

The secret is simple – I have already seen this computing machine in my research institute, so it was not difficult to guess from the standard equipment. Keeping a solemnly serious expression on my face, I examined all the corners, the floor and the ceiling, mentally estimated the dimensions. The event took place.

The next step. Without questioning the possibility of organizing production, recruiting personnel, training them, obtaining permission to launch from various commissions and technical supervision («we can do everything»), I was studying the process of purchasing components. Yes, and there are customs duties on components in accordance with the codes of the commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity. This is our bread – CN FEA! To bounce off the tooth! And now the disappointing conclusion for the anonymous initiator is that the payment of fees for components of the assembly units of video recorders increases the cost of production and the project may be unprofitable! This is stated in writing with the attachment of copies of leaflets from the customs primer, and for clarity of perception – tables with calculations. Which is handed over to the authorities. Felix Andreevich studied the material, lit up a little (appreciated, apparently). A couple of days later, the answer came that the management took note of the conclusion, and this issue was no longer raised. The first barrier has been overcome!

Chapter two. In our office

A week has passed, the adaptation period is over, I’m moving in with Sergey Nikolaevich. We are located opposite each other, but the office is spacious, everyone has a living space. We unpacked and assembled my desk, requested new imported telephones with memory, two for each. And it started – calls, faxes, faxes and calls. The business card proudly flaunts – a business representative of the foreign economic department, there is an option for foreigners: Business Representative Department Foreign Trade. The position obliges – outwardly we try to match: strict suits, ties, we absorb corporate culture. We are trying to defend our independence from the pressure of those divisions of the holding that have been functioning for six months – the financial service, the supply department and the investment department. The latter got used to throwing us English-language texts for technical translation, they allegedly needed it badly, but we regarded it as a loss of sovereignty – such translations (except if it is our direct duty to the authorities) were regarded as a distraction from our main function – to conduct foreign trade transactions and earn money. The investment department was represented by two respectable people, and both in glasses, a candidate and a doctor of sciences, were doing some kind of development on the design of a line for the manufacture of something. I was not interested in their work, but at joint meetings of our organization, these guys reported solidly on the next stage of their highly intelligent work, finding understanding in the person of the management, who set this service as an example to us, the freaks from foreign trade, from whom it is of no use that goat – milk. Look up to the leaders!

Contacts, contacts: that’s what we really need. We offer metals and other products to foreign firms and organizations, chambers of commerce of different countries. Inevitably, phone bills are rising, the chief accountant – an imperious lady – scares us with expenses (in my opinion, the chief accountant is not a position, but a diagnosis). But our president (praise him!) cut it off once and for all:

– If they call, it means they are working.

And we tried to justify this trust with all our might. We carry bundles of commercial offers to the information department for mailing – there two girls fax them from morning to evening. But there are no results yet.

Meanwhile, there is a project – the import of clothes from England. Felix Andreevich signs a contract with some Londoner who speaks English poorly. A container with suits and shoes from London is sailing to us, and I am instructed to clear the valuable cargo at the port and deliver it by car to our store.

– Vladimir Ivanovich, do you know what an invoice is? – Felix Andreevich is interested in me.

– At the top of your voice! – I’m pronounce my version of the quiz «What? Where? When?» The chief’s smile once again proved his endurance and ability to work with the brave soldier Schweik…

The next day I survey the morning landscape of the St. Petersburg terminal. My container is already in the warehouse, that yellow one over there, I found it in even rows among its twins, but first this forty-foot-long box needs to be put on a special platform for customs inspection. I, like a madman, ran for an hour and a half, gesturing to the driver of the gantry crane – take this one, please! Finally hooked! I run to the customs office, and there it’s lunch time, holy business! I look at different ads and read:

– The cargo of the MST company is serviced out of turn!

Who is so happy? Perhaps this is Matvienko Sergey Timofeevich, the namesake of the well-known Valentina Ivanovna? (we didn’t use the word «corruption» then). A female customs specialist floated out of the cherished doors, asked to open the container, and there were large cardboard boxes. All seventeen, as indicated in the invoice. For the sake of order, one box was opened: it’s true clothes, but men’s. Oh, if perfume, then it would be possible to make a present to a beautiful lady, and here – men’s trousers. We put the customs seal on the container. We go back with a solemn gait and draw up the documents, the stamp is «Allowed». Time is inexorably ticking – the car rental is paid until six in the evening. And now it is necessary to put the seal of the cargo office on the documents for admission to the port entrance, and on the container – a seal impression with a huge stamp half a meter long and weighing seven kilograms. The office employees did not bother themselves and did not want to go down from the second floor to the courtyard, they gave me a composter. I returned the piece of iron to them, and off we go! We unloaded at Vasilyevsky Island at five o’clock, then the four of us counted suits, trousers, jackets. It came together the second time, and the ties did not give up five times: then a hundred, then a hundred and one…

The next day, when I was approaching the office, the Lada car stopped at my feet, Felix Andreevich got out of it and shook my hand.

The next container with clothes was brought to our building – we paid for customs clearance services. It so happened that Sergey Nikolaevich, or just Sergey, and I approached this truck almost simultaneously. Our friendly handshake was expected, but, to my surprise, he did not see me point-blank, having started communicating with the driver. Having found out what he was interested in, Sergey had already descended and greeted me by the hand. The contrast with Felix was striking. A thought flashed through my mind:

– Volodya, draw conclusions.

Overall boxes with clothes were dragged to the fourth floor together with Sergey in our dress uniform and stacked in an empty office next door, the boxes were opened. Our trophies are fashionable suits, jackets, trousers, men’s shoes and, of course, ties, all made in England. Of course, everything was sorted, counted and checked against the invoices. I’m not a fan of rags, but some copies were very even. And then we had frequent guests – employees of friendly companies (it’s not for nothing that we are a «Holding») – who don’t want to be a bit of a dandy, some picked up good options for themselves and took them with them. Sergey and I helped the process and kept records. Suddenly the door opened and our president quickly entered the room. After a cursory inspection of the exhibition and sale, he selected two boxes of shoes and said, addressing me:

– Bring it to my office tonight.

The chief accountant came with her strict instructions later. I listened to them with due attention and added, looking into her eyes:

– Except for these two boxes – Khazir Daudovich asked me to leave them for him.

The mention of the head of the holding company dramatically changed the tone of the conversation.

Chapter three. Holding

The financial association «Holding» is a powerful business structure on the St. Petersburg scale. In 1993, it consisted of several foreign trade firms, trading companies with shops, as well as traditional services, which I mentioned earlier, a legal department, had its own travel and insurance companies. The investments were handled by Holding-Invest, considerable funds were invested in the business center at the Nevsky Palace Hotel together with American businessmen Paul Tatum and his partner Richard Monroe. I had the good fortune to communicate with Mr. Monroe personally, we were driving in his car on business somehow, and he praised my English pronunciation (apparently, he was tired of listening to self-taught people). A typical gentleman and a classic scout – a solid attractive image, soft manners, a calm voice, an attentive look. Who has never heard of Paul Tatum, I will briefly say – one of the first American businessmen in Russia, large interests in Moscow at the Slavyanskaya Hotel, connections at the mayor’s office, joint business with the famous Chechen businessman Umar Dzhabrailov. According to authoritative sources, in 1991, at a critical moment of the confrontation, namely Paul Tatum provided Boris Yeltsin’ telephone communication with the military units of General Grachev and Lebed, which greatly contributed to his victory over the GKCHP. Mr. Tatum was killed in the center of Moscow in a pedestrian crossing by a burst from a machine gun in 1996. Tough Business… The US State Department sent a note to the Russian government and demanded to find and punish the perpetrators. They didn’t find it.

The second interesting project was the joint venture AmRus Communications. The director of the company was Oleg Borisovich, he is also the vice president of the Holding. The company borrowed and introduced advanced American development in Russia – equipment for signal consolidation of telephone lines and communication channels, as well as household antennas for receiving television channels. I had a chance to take part in this direction with the specialists of the Bonch-Bruevich Institute of Communications. A professor from institute asked me a question:

– Why do I find a common language with you, but not with your supervisor?

The unvoiced answer was that, although I have three higher educations, one of which I received in the building next to you on the Moika Embankment, opposite the Stroganov Palace, but in the new conditions, money decides everything. And you, comrade Professor, will do what is required of you, and if they want, they will buy your knowledge inexpensively. As well as mine, as, in fact, and me.

I will introduce the heads of the association: Khalid headed Holding-Invest, Oleg – foreign trade and his beloved AmRus, Amir – Vice President for Trade Operations. The holding is headed by Khazir Daudovich, President. In the middle of 1993, the authorized capital of the Holding was one billion rubles. Most divisions had their own Lada cars with drivers, and the vice-president and the president himself drove new Ford Torus cars bought in the USA in the amount of as many as seventeen pieces. Three cars were left in St. Petersburg, the rest were sent on their own to the Caucasus. It was said that at the last checkpoint in front of the Chechen Republic, this cavalcade was stopped by a police colonel of the traffic police. But then our Felix Andreevich, a retired captain of the first rank, a counterintelligence officer, came out to him and solved the issue – the caravan moved on. I have already written about the relationship with the Central Research Institute «Rumb» – after all, we ourselves were sitting there on the fourth floor. These were our opportunities, but they were not exhausted by this.

The financial association needed financial freedom, and it was realized in the establishment of the bank Tavrichesky together with Mr. Zakharzhevsky. Khazir Daudovich took the post of vice-president of the bank Tavrichesky. I remember, in May of ’93, we inspected the building of the future bank being repaired on Radishcheva Street together with a beautiful Scandinavian-type Marina Lavrinets, whom I invited from the Peleng company directly into the caring hands of Vsevolod Valentinovich. He was experiencing a shortage of personnel, and I was obliged to him… Marina had a fascinating effect on men from fifteen to seventy years old inclusive, a natural blonde with huge gray eyes and a dazzling smile. Besides, she was the person I could trust – I didn’t have any friends in the Holding. It’s not surprising that the next day after the interview, she was already working on our floor and then often dropped by with Sergey and me, bringing a little charm and magic of natural female beauty into our everyday lives.