Бесплатный фрагмент - Tough Business

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

Author

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.

Chapter four. Military

The fantasy of the leadership is in full swing, and we were born to make a fairy tale come true. The challenge to Oleg Borisovich is the formulation of my new task: uniform. It is necessary to purchase samples of military uniforms of the Russian army. The further fate of the purchases is not discussed, most likely it is the development of a supply channel for a mysterious customer — perhaps for American or Chechen friends (well, not to go in the office on Zaitseva Street in uniform!). I followed a self-imposed rule: no more than two questions! The first is samples of various branches of the armed forces? Yes, except for the naval (which means that the naval landing is excluded). The second is the quantity? Two or four copies of different sizes. We do not specify the deadline, and so it is clear: ASAP (as soon as possible) is an international abbreviation.

The fact is that in those years, the market reached the Russian army, «which will solve everything.» The Ministry of Defense has created a department for the sale of military property — a step, in general, sound, a lot of things have accumulated in warehouses. You can buy decommissioned or unnecessary vehicles, but you can’t buy an AK-74 machine gun or a tank. Sergey smiles after my calls to the military — he has his own version of purchases, but this is a secret. I work out a list of eight dozen items on the nomenclature, approve the money, sign the contract by fax, issue a power of attorney for myself to sign the contract in Moscow, pay the bill. The next day I am already in the capital, we are completing the formalities, I receive an order for the removal of goods from the warehouse — so, I can go home. In the subway underpass on Nogin Square, I saw a table with books, out of habit I looked to see if there was anything useful? I was interested in the directory «List of foreign firms and joint ventures in Moscow» with addresses and phone numbers and bought it, of course. Subsequently, this book played a crucial role in my career.

The next day in the office, according to the instructions from above, I handed over the list of goods to the supply department for delivery and received a response from the head of the department :

— Go yourself.

Khazir Daudovich was in the office — I had to knock on his door. For the first time I heard how he knows how to talk tough with subordinates — you can’t envy his interlocutor… Three days later, the ordered military uniform was in the room next door. I brought forty chairs into this room, carefully hung out and put officer’s jackets, trousers with red, blue, green piping, caps, flasks, belts on each chair. It turned out well. Felix Andreevich visited the exhibition as a military consultant and said:

— Vladimir Ivanovich, you will go far!

The Vice President and the president appreciated the exposition. There is a great atmosphere and a new assignment in Khazir Daudovich’s office:

— Take some photos in the form.

— Who should I photograph?

— Anyone you choose in the office.

I really wanted to make a joke and offer those present, but I was smart enough to restrain myself.

— Allow me to act according to the formula «In the name of the president»?

— I allow it, — smiles Khazir Daudovich.

The next day, with a camera, I go into the drivers’ office, and there were about ten of them there, I choose a nice young guy and say strictly:

— Come with me.

The people were stunned, many still did not know me, but here they are in charge… The photos turned out wonderful, from the cycle «They protect the Motherland».

Yesterday in our office I unexpectedly met my friend, the one who told me about the Holding company on the stairs during a smoke break six months ago. He was leaving the reception room with the president. Without a doubt, Vsevolod Valentinovich organized the meeting. We greeted each other, looked closely into each other’s eyes and it seemed to me that he was both happy for me and sorry about something.

Chapter five. The new head of the department and the first success

Felix Andreevich is going on a business trip to Germany. Whether on business matters, or on his personal — we do not know. He made it clear that the management allowed it as a sign of past merits. Recently, he was in the hospital, apparently, he made a final decision for himself about his future fate. He showed me a picture of himself in Las Vegas. Las Vegas! Before leaving, he called Sergey and me and said:

— As you wish, but for the duration of the business trip I appoint the acting head of the senior — Vladimir Ivanovich.

Sergei clearly did not like it, he considered himself a favorite and so presented himself to others. I didn’t need it either, as it brought tension into our relationship. In addition, Oleg Borisovich was clearly on Sergei’s side: he gave me tasks for language skills, and then called Sergei to him for «information». Upon his return, Felix Andreevich quit, and we were left without a boss. But not for long.

Viktor Vasilyevich Voytalyuk is our new head of foreign trade. Without a doubt, this has strengthened the authority of our department. Graduate of the Higher Red Banner School of the KGB of the USSR named after Dzerzhinsky, Lieutenant Colonel. Among the positions held is Assistant to the Rector of Leningrad State University for International Relations. Who does not know, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin once held the same position.

Viktor Vasilyevich and I are about the same age, thanks to his personal qualities and experience, we immediately developed working and even friendly relations with Sergey and, I hope, with me as well. Viktor Vasilyevich has opened up new opportunities in the development of our business: for example, contacts at high levels in the space and nuclear fields are no joke. Suffice it to say that two heads of the Aerospace Consortium came to us for talks, including cosmonaut number two, Colonel-General German Stepanovich Titov. I had the good fortune to see the legendary hero in person and get his autograph on our letterhead. It was said that the meeting with the cosmonaut from the holding was attended by: the president, Voytalyuk and vice-president Amir — a dense brunette of typical Caucasian appearance. Despite the fact that Khazir Daudovich kicked his vice-president under the table, because he got the Hero of the Soviet Union so much with his questions after a glass of cognac that Herman Stepanovich — Doctor of Technical Sciences, associate professor — could not stand it and uttered a succinct scientific phrase:

— I’m going to have a drink and a snack here, and you, a Jew, go to …fuck you!

But the most important thing is that Viktor Vasilyevich brought us to a serious buyer from Moscow — let’s call him Andrey. I went to Moscow to establish contacts and negotiations. Andrey had direct access to the head of the Moscow Oil Exchange. A handsome, intelligent and educated young man with a degree from Leningrad University, he was optimistic about our cooperation. Potentially, he was ready to buy ten thousand tons of fuel oil, and Khazir Daudovich was ready to supply this fuel oil from the Grozny refinery. We signed a contract for the supply to the Svetogorsk Paper Mill and in August 1993 successfully fulfilled it. This was the first major contract in the history of our department, and its employees managed to survive this success with dignity. We were morally supported by the management and financially rewarded, although we had not been in trouble before — our salaries increased more than twenty times due to inflation, we were given coupons for free meals in the canteen «Rumb» and in addition to our «Lada» car we sometimes used the «Fords» of the management for official purposes. It was spectacular — to drive up, for example, to the Kirov district police department to resolve the issue, although I never got hung up on it. We gained self-confidence, and now no Holding service could oppress us. By the way, yesterday’s heroes from the investment department were fired for a failure in their work, one with a heart attack and bad consequences for the other. We smoked Dunhill, Marlboro and Camel cigarettes right at our workplaces and made plans for further conquests.

Chapter six. New direction

Developing the first success, our management established promising contacts with the administration of one of the refineries in the central region of Russia. The advantage was that this plant had the status of a special exporter and shipped products abroad. Decisive in this situation was the consent of the plant’s directorate to the shipment of products by our buyer. In other words, if you have an export contract, you are already the king. At that time, the profit for various types of petroleum products ranged from ten to fifty dollars per ton. Shipped a «chopper» (three thousand tons) — and you have a hundred thousand dollars in your pocket. Due to the difference in prices in Russia and abroad, some clever guys made redirects, that is, they indicated a foreign station at the final station in Russia or on the way. It was illegal, the prosecutor’s office was initiated, but these heroes did not always get what they deserved. By the way, so, according to some sources, one Russian oligarch also started, but his criminal case mysteriously disappeared on the way from Komi to Moscow.

In connection with the above, a new influential man in a black suit from Cardin, who kept all contacts with the Kstovsky Refinery, Vladislav Konstantinovich Gorchakov, appeared in our office. Vladislav Konstantinovich, a senior officer of the Ministry of Defense, was on close terms with the management of the Holding, addressed without a patronymic, and with us, guys from our department, at a long distance only. And the department itself actually turned from foreign economic to oil, reflecting the main line of activity, which added specifics and corresponded to the historical specialization and spirit of the city of Grozny. The bet was on the wholesale sale of petroleum products, large funds were invested for the purchase of goods, but with the right trade policy, the profit promised to be also significant with a small number of staff. Since there were already volumes of goods for sale, we tripled our efforts, looking for buyers from nine o’clock in the morning to nine in the evening. That’s where the reference book I bought in Moscow, in the underpass, came in handy. Scientifically speaking, it was pertinental information, and it turned out to be very valuable.

One fine August day, the phone rang on my desk and an unfamiliar voice asked me to answer the phone. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time — the Swiss company Konechim has shown interest in purchasing fuel oil in the amount of twenty thousand tons with delivery to Ukraine. Having clarified the details with me, the manager of the foreign firm, Viktor Sergeevich, promised to send an official purchase offer in my name. This was received two hours later by the fax of the assistant Khazir Daudovich, and the president literally burst into our office with this paper. It followed from the letter of Konechim that they were ready to conclude a contract, but lowered the purchase price by one dollar per ton.

— Vladimir Ivanovich, can you write forty-six?

— Khazir Daudovich, — I answer calmly, — I will settle this question on the phone for our original forty-five.

And so it happened. The next day, our president left for Moscow to sign the contract, and Vladislav Konstantinovich went to Nizhny Novgorod to coordinate the contract with the refinery.

And it started spinning. The contract was not easy, as we supplied fuel oil to sixteen sugar factories in Ukraine under the order of Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian railway. The contacts of specialists in Kstovo were transferred to me, and now the standard work of the commercial department has started: shipments of goods, tank numbers, quality certificates, acceptance certificates, invoices… And conversations, conversations — with the refinery and Moscow. The situation turned me into a mining leader, and my colleagues into assistants: the head of the department reprinted the numbers of three hundred tanks, Sergey piled up a draft bilingual contract in Russian and English, and I finalized it under specific conditions. Sometimes Sergey first to pick up the phone and introduce himself to Viktor Sergeyevich, but he politely and invariably demanded me — he did not conduct any negotiations with other persons and did not transmit any requests. I have always had respect for this person — both as a specialist who taught me a lot, and as a real intellectual. When I had the opportunity, I stopped by his Moscow office, of course, on business.

No matter what aesthetes say, but the main thing in business is money. According to the terms of the contract, Konechim paid us part of the goods, and the rest was paid upon delivery, after specifying the actual amount of fuel oil shipped. Oleg Borisovich called me to him and asked a question — can Konechim pay earlier? He generally liked to build a situation «for himself» and sometimes forced me to be a magician. It was a good school, and I adopted this principle — «I can do the impossible.» Well, I called Viktor Sergeyevich, asked, and they paid. Upon completion of the contract, we, the trio from the Foreign Economic Department, were rewarded according to our contribution to the victory, as in the fairy tale about Masha: the author of these lines — in the bowl of Mikhail Potapych, the head of the department — in the bowl of Anastasia Petrovna, Sergei — in Mishutkin’s bowl.

Chapter seven. Tough Business

You may ask — well, where is the tough business, the mafia smacks? Standard work of an average firm. But don’t rush — I have a few trumps for you! Some of them I will post immediately, and some will be presented in the process of narration.

American criminologist economist Annilise Anderson from Stanford University is one of the leading foreign experts in the economic analysis of organized crime. Anderson formulates the following final definition:

— Mafia is a group that is characterized by profit–oriented criminal activity, the use of violence or the threat of violence, the use of a significant part of its resources to prevent its members from cooperating with the police, as well as corruption of legitimate state authorities.

I do not know the sources of the holding’s financial resources, the ways and methods of concluding profitable contracts, I do not disclose the names of foreign legal entities, the names of bank officers and their countries of deployment, with whom I personally had to communicate in the course of performing my daily duties. My functions did not include brute force techniques: shoot, punch someone in the face, give bribes, threaten — but I had no right to allow anybody to threaten me, because in this way they humiliated those who led me and questioned our independence and fearlessness. Without overestimating, I saw myself as a combat unit designed to make money legally or almost legally. For a more accurate description of the prevailing atmosphere, I must share a saying that exists in our environment:

— Who knows how, he earns money, who does not know how, he runs with a gun.

And there were undoubtedly such guys in our organization, given the fact that in those years the Holding was the largest and almost the only Chechen company in St. Petersburg that was trying to gain a foothold and expand its influence in the region. From the point of view of such a science as system analysis, in addition to the interaction of objects, there is also the resistance of the environment surrounding them, in this case — strong competition in the oil business. And it was necessary to defend and defend their interests. An additional circumstance was the national and status factor — both in the external environment and within our organization.

At the beginning of my activity, I had the opportunity to make an impression of the Chechen people by their young, well-educated and well-mannered representatives, whose parents held senior government positions in the Chechen Republic. My leaders taught me in my forties the courage of ideas, breadth of views, determination and firmness. For my part, I brought the technical competence and experience of the engineer with Voenmekh diploma, the ability to solve non-standard tasks, diligence and responsibility inherent in the military industry, the ability to establish contacts with people. Later I learned to speak the same language with both bandits and foreigners. I passed a kind of tests for professionalism and decency, and most importantly — the ability to remain silent. I had mistakes, and they didn’t pat me on the head for them, but they never humiliated my dignity as a subordinate and as a Russian by nationality. And there were many reasons for this, especially during the Chechen wars, when blood was shed, sometimes I heard emotional reproaches from people who survived this hell. However, my position has always remained unchanged — I serve, but I do not humiliate myself. I did not try to learn the Chechen language, because in this way I left communication free for their native speakers. From time to time it was necessary to defend the right to historical, not «national» truth. Any national tragedies are terrible, but I also had irrefutable arguments — my relatives survived the blockade… Later I talked with Chechens of different ages, status and beliefs, and once again I was convinced that the more ardent nationalism (not to be confused with national pride) and hatred of the Russian world in a person, the lower his intelligence, no matter how many academic degrees were indicated on his business card. On the other hand, their national characteristics and traditions have always created an undeniable advantage when uniting in the fight against an external enemy, since their fighting qualities are honed in the family since childhood, boys become men capable of standing up for themselves, and for their family, and for their kind (teip), and for their land.

Nevertheless, the difference in age and mentality still affected. There were times when I did not understand someone from the authorities, and they did not understand me. A typical example from life. The president calls to me, and there are five people in relaxed poses.

— Do you sell diesel fuel for Russian supplies. And how?

I answer that buyers are interested in the product quality passport.

— And why do you need a passport if there is GOST (Russian standard)? — someone from the audience asks rather sharply with a slight accent.

I calmly explain that GOST 305—82 «Diesel fuel» specifies ranges of values of controlled parameters — cetane number, water content, flash point and so on. The buyer is usually interested in specific quantities: sulfur, mechanical impurities and other characteristics. After the explanation, silence reigned in the office. And this is not the main argument. Well, I won’t tell them directly that this is how those who are far from the supplier sell most often, in fact it is «air», and I earned my reputation with blood and everyone takes my word for it. You’re suggesting that I become Baron Munchausen and undermine the reputation of the firm. But sometime it’s been tougher:

— Call London and tell them that we will have twenty thousand tons of something soon…

The Englishman, stunned by the news, asks me a hundred questions in his native language, to which I have no answer — both in fact and because of the limited vocabulary. What should I do?

— Be patient, Cossack, you will be ataman!

But I also have a personal limit, my own border, which I cannot cross. Once we signed a contract with Gazprom, and the boss asked me to sign a contract on the terms of deferred payment. This meant that it was good for our company, but for me it was a personal responsibility worth millions of non-Russian rubles. I had a choice — to accept the offer and agree, show loyalty, and then suffer for a long time, bearing the burden of moral responsibility (there were examples), or refuse and have a loss of perspective and trust of the leadership, but sleep peacefully. I chose the latter, had a tough one-on-one conversation and disappointed the president with my «no» and «I can’t». But I did not overstep himself, my experience and my beliefs. But I did not become rich either — I say for those to whom I seemed a proud hero in the description of my actions. I think a more accurate term is Don Juan’s definition of «controlled stupidity,» which Carlos Castaneda wrote about.

And here is the first trump card in favor of our selectivity and strength. Actually, many of our compatriots could find out about our valiant team on December thirtieth, 1993 at ten p.m, after watching an hour-long program called «Evening Concert» on the channel «Russia». As the notorious Fantomas used to say:

— Even a great man is nothing without the press.

Following this principle, the financial association «Holding» announced its existence to the whole country: this is evidence of the high ambitions of his leadership, inherent in truly powerful structures.

Chapter eight. Melpomene in our service

When a person has a specific case, he is passionate and responsible for the result, he does not have time for trifles, distraction from the process is annoying. It is difficult to push into yourself something extraneous, unrelated to the work being done, it is like a creator in the process of composing a symphony to answer a telephone survey. This is not his purpose, not his nature. I practically turned into a person sitting at my desk, solving urgent tasks throughout the working day with a lunch break. Sergey Nikolaevich always responded to my requests, but he was less loaded, and for this reason, as well as due to his sanguine nature and penchant for self-promotion, he communicated with other departments and was the first to find out all the news of our floor — who was fired, who was hired, in which country the leadership is staying this time and what is the name of the new secretary Amir. By the way, oh-h-h-pretty. In the women’s issue, we were in solidarity — we appreciated female beauty and a good attitude towards us, we did not suffer from jealousy and greed. Sergey, for a reason almost unknown to me, sometimes called us «foster brothers», probably because of Tanya, our mutual friend.

And here is fantastic news from Sergey: a television program is being prepared about our financial association, famous personalities are involved, who — oh, a miracle! — they are literally located behind our wall, the creative troops landed in the next office! Among the creators are an experienced film director Sergeyeva, a popular St. Petersburg composer and singer Igor Azarov and, attention, an actress, singer and TV presenter — the incomparable Anna Samokhina! That’s cool!

Where is the wind blowing from? Here it is necessary to make a really lyrical digression. Our vice-president Oleg Borisovich has two brothers — Mikhail and Evgeny. Bright personalities — Evgeny, a top manager of Holding-Invest, a master of sports of international class, tall and powerful, practically did not appear in our department. There were legends about him from the mouth of his older brother:

— Evgeny at the wedding in a police cap and a traffic policeman’s baton blocked traffic in St. Petersburg for the wedding motorcade of Oleg and his bride. — Or:

— Evgeny hit a bailiff in a hotel in Moscow so hard that he drove several meters across the floor.

The eldest, Mikhail Borisovich, immediately inspired the sympathy of others with his friendliness and creative abilities. A gambler by nature, he wrote poetry and, thanks to his irrepressible positive aura, was on close terms with people of creative professions. Lyudmila Gurchenko sang in our office, I listened with interest to his stories about Irina Ponarovskaya, the guys from the Adam’s Apple TV show often came. In general, it has always been a pleasure for me to deal with him — creative or business. By the way, he traded me a magnificent Hungarian sheepskin coat for four hundred dollars. I am not a slave to things, but I have never seen such things again, and in the subway passengers at that difficult time looked at me like an alien. Mikhail Borisovich was very dynamic, easily rebuilt from one type of business to another, but the scale of his activities for objective reasons was not comparable to ours.

One day, at the moment of another delay in the urgent study of a letter of credit from a western bank, dear Mikhail came to me «to talk.» After a couple of minutes of polite communication, I pointed to a thick folder of documents lying on the table and asked quietly:

— How much do you think this folder costs? — Mikhail Borisovich visually appreciated the black cardboard with metal corners and assumed, inflating the price out of respect for me:

— One hundred thousand dollars!

— Five million, — I also rounded up the amount a little. Turning a little pale, Mikhail said:

— I never thought that Oleg was doing such things.

This was the best characteristic of the significance of our work. On the other hand, a high degree of secrecy was maintained between the brothers — how wonderful, gentlemen counterintelligence officers! After this incident, he did not come to us again, but we happily greeted each other in the corridor.

Employees of other departments stopped coming to us at all — apparently, such a command came from above. I was disconnected from other matters, and my habitat is my own room and the head of the department, a reception room with two secretaries, and the offices of the president and his deputy. It was in the reception room that I met Anna Samokhina — she came with some question to the assistant, and I was just finishing a conversation with her. As polite people, we greeted each other, our eyes met for a second, and I went out into the corridor. But Sergey was often behind the wall — apparently, he was attracted by the magic power of art and its representatives, he even invited the director to come to us, cordially offering the services of himself and our car — this is more interesting than boring numbers and pieces of paper. It is curious that Anna Samokhina quickly figured out the situation in our business community and rather flatteringly nicknamed the brothers Oleg, Evgeny and Mikhail «the Kennedy brothers» — obviously, not only because of the quantitative coincidence.

As a result, somewhere around the New Year of 1993, a restaurant was rented, where, according to the script, a gala evening and a presentation of the Holding were held. The presenters at this musical festival were Anna Samokhina and Igor Azarov, whose song «Full Moon power» became the name of this action. The whole color of our company was present at the shooting, including the head of our department Viktor Vasilyevich and his wife. The President and his two vice-presidents pronounced health resorts in pauses between musical numbers, but we can say the opposite, that is, the songs sounded in pauses between health resorts. Sergei and I were not invited, and for him it was a serious blow to his reputation, especially after advertising his own image to the creators of this film. But on the evening of the thirtieth of December, sitting at a party among friends over a glass of cognac, we were able to see our bosses on the TV screen «Russia» and hear about our company, like many citizens of our vast country. Guitar songs were also played this evening — «How great that we are all gathered here today» and the all-season «Sunny Afternoon» by The Kinks — after all, we are the lucky ones from Department Foreign Trade! We were overwhelmed with pride — we are a part of this holiday and our holding, and each of us received not only moral satisfaction, but also champagne with a small bag of money as a New Year’s gift from Santa Claus.

Chapter nine. John Hunter’s Lessons

I remember, somewhere in the mid-seventies, I read with great interest the book «The Hunter» by the Scottish writer John Hunter. The writer was able to vividly describe his adventures in Africa in the late XIX — early XX century in the exotic role of a hunter of large animals — lions, buffaloes, rhinos, elephants and leopards. Later, our well-aimed and courageous shooter became a safari guide for rich people looking for thrills in the wild and hunting big animals. If his client could not shoot or missed, then Hunter could not be mistaken, because this mistake could well cost the lives of himself and his companions. He was and will forever remain the record holder for the number of predators killed, and in whose courage, firmness of character, physical condition and common sense there is no doubt. Although not every reader likes such a craft, but Mr. Hunter expressed a universal truth for any activity, which he established on the basis of his experience.

In any activity, he writes, there are three stages. At the first stage, a person does not know how to do anything, but learns some kind of craft and achieves the first successes. At the second stage, having gained some experience, he often already considers himself an expert who has learned all the secrets of his profession. But this is a delusion, and it is at this stage that he makes serious, and sometimes fatal mistakes. At the third stage, when a person has experienced the second stage, there is a sense of reality, an objective assessment of their skills and possible obstacles, and at this stage the specialist is most effective. Hunter himself almost died at the second stage, overestimating his abilities and getting lost in the center of Africa, and only a miracle saved him — after two days of wandering in the endless impenetrable forests, he stumbled upon a power line support, and a day later he went to a small town.

— I hugged a metal pole and fell to my knees — I cried because I realized that I was saved now, — he wrote.

In the activities of the oil department, everything happened according to the classic Hunter scheme. Two large transactions, which were written about earlier, ended successfully. Our intentions and decisions were balanced — we, the seller and the buyer, two companies, the parties to the contract, insured each other against failures. Planning for further sales began in 1994, and then, instead of the previous cohesive work of the Holding and a thorough inspection of buyers, something absurd began. Each of the managers, believing in his competence, began to sell petroleum products himself, without having sufficient knowledge for that. This concerned both the quality of the goods, and the knowledge of INCOTERMS — the basic concepts and conditions of international trade, and the reliability of potential counterparties. There was a kind of competition, who will sell more and more expensive. The network of intermediaries selling the same as our department was expanding. And the sale of serious volumes and the transaction itself is an intimate matter, here the number of participants can spoil a sweet wedding night: this is not only my opinion, but, obviously, there were others. It is possible that someone’s pride was infringed here — he can, but why not me? And off it went…

The first bell rang back in December 1993. While I was working on fuel oil, Viktor Vasilyevich personally sold two thousand tons of diesel fuel to a St. Petersburg buyer. As it turned out, neither he nor the buyer had a deep knowledge of the specifics, and as a result of the contract, summer diesel fuel was shipped, which was prohibited from receiving at this time of year in St. Petersburg. Realizing this too late, the buyer diverted the entire train to Chechnya, where, according to him, he «disappeared», and was called to negotiations, and in fact to disassembly, to the Holding. Khazir Daudovich, after listening to all this, retorted:

— In Chechnya, my fuel cannot be lost, — and sentenced the buyer — a brave young officer of one of the special services — to compensation for losses.

— We will have to sell the apartment… — the debtor declared in his heart. To finish with this story, I will briefly tell you how events unfolded further. Having suffered, the officer wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office about extortion, and thereby made the second wrong step. The prosecutor’s office tried in vain to reach the defendant, who was rarely on the spot and often abroad. Having felt the situation, the businessman realized the mistake, withdrew the application and then worked with our company on special conditions — repelled debts.

In the last days of December, Gorchakov calls me from the refinery and nervously asks where to apply for a license? I mean, to which country — Latvia, Belarus or somewhere else. I had no answer, the question was not discussed and hung in the air, at the management level (of course, with our participation), was not discussed and was not resolved.

— And where are Khazir and Oleg?!

— I don’t know…

And I shouldn’t have known. Actually, it was not uncommon for our leaders to mysteriously disappear when they were really needed — just like this time. I remember there was a conversation with Oleg Borisovich about the purchase price of diesel fuel for Latvia, the idea of the price from Konechim was about one hundred and sixty dollars per ton, but reliable. This option was rejected, and nothing new was invented. After the New Year holidays, an instruction was received from the bosses — prepare a contract for diesel fuel for Belarus, we will give the details of the supplier’s company later. And look for buyers in the same place.

The main principle was violated here — first step is the buyer, and then the destination country. Having issued a license for the sale of a mythical merchant in Belarus and giving up Latvia, where everything was transparent and reliable, we ourselves, figuratively speaking, threw a noose around our neck. I must admit that I could not find buyers from the Slavic brothers, no matter how hard I tried. It is difficult to find a black cat in a dark room, that is, the demand for diesel fuel, especially when it is not there — Belarus has its own two oil refineries — in Mozyr and Novopolotsk. As a result, at the command from above, the details of the shipment were changed more than once, as I learned later — from some intermediary, and the delivery itself was made without prepayment under unclear guarantees, the fuel was drained at oil depots in Gomel and Rechitsa. This problematic contract also became mine. I tried to sell diesel fuel on the spot to another consumer, but our contractors rudely stopped these attempts and threatened me on the phone, something about the integrity of my head. I immediately called Khazir Daudovich and explained the situation face to face. Ten minutes later, my rude interlocutor from Gomel apologized profoundly and expressed the opinion that I misunderstood him. In general, someone created a problem, and now I have to figure it out: this was within the competence of my salary. But the main disadvantage is that the style of work has been changed, money has been withdrawn from circulation, and precious time and mutual understanding are being lost.

The day after tomorrow I was already in Gomel. As expected, the buyer company consisted of local young guys, and absolutely did not correspond to the level of purchase. Their office consisted of a large room of thirty square meters, a couple of computers, a large TV, and a rented Volga-3102 car with a driver, that’s all the assets. Yes, two young girls in short dresses also came, they asked for money, which means liabilities. An intermediary also came, but I did not contact him because of mutual rejection. I asked the director when he would pay, but he said that they had no money now. To clarify, we went to the Gomel oil depot, to which these businessmen stuck, to the boss. We walked around the offices, I asked around the clerks there, and it became clear that the oil depot had almost paid off with these guys. Having improved the moment, I tete-a-tete in the boss’s office offered to pay us directly, but what he wisely replied:

— You will leave, but I will live here.

As a result, an addendum was born to the contract on the terms of payment, where Belarusians paid us the debt with interest for the delay. With this I returned to St. Petersburg. The counter was turned on.

During my business trip, my colleagues didn’t waste any time. Sergey put on a mysterious look and said that he and Oleg Borisovich had made a mighty contract for diesel fuel in the amount of ten thousand tons with delivery to Moldova. It was incorrect for me to ask questions, but gradually it turned out that everything was cool, the price was between 191 and 192 dollars, payment upon delivery to the Chadyr-Lunga station, and there is a guarantor for payment.

— I’d like to see this guarantor, — I thought.

I don’t know how Khazir Daudovich turned on the green light for this deal, I think he doubted, but he didn’t want to quarrel with Oleg Borisovich, because everything could have turned out well… This mythical profit overshadowed someone’s mind, and someone probably made a subtle calculation on this, but from which side of the transaction and to what extent? It also turned out that the refinery could not ship the goods without paying for transit through Ukraine, problems with the bank began, but they were still shipped. The result is this: we did not receive the promised money, the goods disappeared, and the intermediary disappeared along with the buyer. I don’t know how they dealt with it at the top, but we ended up owing a large sum to the supplier plant, which made further shipments difficult — our business stopped. The recent triumphants have been defeated. About five years later, a smart and personable, handsome middle-aged man named Movladi, a relative of the president, came to my office. In careful conversations (no one introduced us to each other, but I heard about his high reputation), we recalled the past, and I made it clear that I knew about the deal with Moldova and the Chadyr-Lunga station was like a sharp thorn in my memory. He, in turn, shared with me:

— I was there, but I didn’t find anything.

To relieve the tension, I said with a smile:

— I have an alibi — at that time I was in Belarus…

Undoubtedly, he was aware of our major transactions and understood what I mean.

Chapter ten. Needle penetration depth

Do you know what the expression «the inside truth» means? You know, of course, this is the truth, obtained during torture, during which the unfortunate man was driven needles under his nails, and there was no doubt that this was the bloody truth — the ultimate truth, the crystal clear truth. But this chapter is not about torture.

I didn’t know many serious companies that, as a result of adverse events, were able to return to the previous level. As an example, we can cite the fall and collapse of the Baltic Financial and Industrial Group, a powerful oil trader and concern in the North-West of Russia. As a result of the actions of competitors, its organizer and ideologist Pavel Kapysh was killed by a grenade launcher shot in his armored car on the University Embankment in St. Petersburg, and the security service could not prevent this tragedy. Our Holding was also attacked by criminal elements, the leadership kept the powder dry, successfully fought and defended our independence. The blows of fate, terrible blows, we felt in the future, but today we overcame the financial crisis, and new divisions were thrown into battle, namely the legal department and the Vice president for Trade, Mr. Amir. One day he called me and asked me to submit a draft contract. I specified which one was Russian or export, he chose the first option. Then, in the presence of a lawyer, I was asked a number of clarifying questions, which were answered. Where the delivery is, what we deliver is a mystery to me (I have already written about the competitive syndrome in our organization). The lawyer developed the contract, the vice-president approved it and submitted it to the president for consideration.

Three hours later, my intercom phone rang with the president:

— Come in. What contract did you transfer?

Explained: what they asked for, he gave.

— The contract is no good, give me an export option. And check the final edition!

— But there’s a lawyer there, — I ventured.

— A lawyer should also be taught!

That’s it! An engineer teaches a lawyer how to draw up a contract! However, I didn’t have to teach, guess why. Soon they were left without a legal department, however, as well as an insurance and travel company. Marina and Vsevolod Valentinovich still held on, but it was clear that this would not last long — the structure of the «Holding» was truncated in the process of optimization and reasonable cost savings.

One, two — and I drew a contract for ten thousand tons of oil bitumen for delivery to Ukraine, the Lutsk roofing material Plant. The technology of making roofing material is quite simple — cardboard, in fact paper, is impregnated with this bitumen and at a certain temperature, a well-known roofing material is obtained. It is clear that the plant has no money, deferred payment. In this case, the functions in the department were ordered to be divided: I am engaged in the shipments of the refinery — they know me there and do not give these contacts to others of ours, technical issues are also for me, and Sergei Nikolaevich is sent to native Ukraine to establish working relations at the plant — something he stayed in the office too long… He returned five days later with fascinating stories about visiting the restaurant, but I didn’t hear anything sensible — apparently, he thought it was wrong to share information with me. Shipments from the plant began, and in the first batch received, Lutsk found a violation of the standard for the most important parameter — the viscosity of bitumen. I figured out that the viscosity of bitumen is determined by the depth of penetration of the needle. The question arose — either we stop the shipment, or we solve quality issues by lowering the price or increasing the payment period, if this is not critical for the technology. We went the second way and offered the plant to specify the tank numbers, the weight of the cargo and the amount of deviation from GOST. And here is a letter on the letterhead of the LRZ plant with signatures and seals on my desk: a deviation of the limit parameters was detected in six railway cars…

The writer O. Henry in one novel has an example of a meaningless question: what is a policeman for? And why is there a smart boss and a computer, let me ask? Also a meaningless question! And in order, I will answer you that you can miraculously make sixty out of six cars on paper, and ask for a discount in the price from the manufacturer of this bitumen in the amount of fifty percent, and the most amazing thing is that the refinery agreed with this. In fact, these cars with bitumen stood on the tracks for a long time, the director of the LRZ even saw them with his own eyes, but he could not buy them. And if I could, why would we exist then, because our company took the risks of non-payment, and for the refinery, in theory, it is not permissible.

Day after day, week after week, and there is still no money for bitumen, despite our requests and demands. But suddenly a miracle happened: a familiar supplier from roofing material contacted Sergey and said in an agitated voice that some people had called the director of the plant, threatened on behalf of the Holding and advised the director to «say goodbye to his family». For debts, you have to understand. Of course, the sane Sergey Nikolaevich, as a former employee of the internal affairs bodies, brushed aside all these fabrications and said that he did not know anything about it, and there could be no such thing, we are not the mafia… We exchanged meaningful glances. Soon the payment slowly began to creep, but apparently not very significant in order to calm down some evil forces. After a while, we were informed that the director’s summer cottage had accidentally burned down. Then the director quit, something with health that did not allow him to live long in retirement.

The responsible persons at the roofing material plant stirred in fright, began to look for money and offer barter — in fact, the roofing material itself. This is what Sergey did, but without much success, our long-time partner in fuel oil, Andrey, joined him to help. He himself was originally from Ukraine and had useful contacts. But in general, the situation was difficult, the debt remained significant. In April, two representatives of the plant came to us to negotiate with our management — I would not like to be in their place. The result: Khazir Daudovich at the meeting abruptly stated that Muzychenko had «failed» the contract with Lutsk (by the way, I have never heard him call Sergei by his first name). Sergey hung on a thread, he was suspended from exports and left only deliveries to Russia. Viktor Vasilyevich, the head of the department, was assigned to deal with petroleum oils and reassigned to Vice-President Amir, effectively removing him from large-tonnage petroleum products — fuel oil and diesel fuel. As Gorchakov told me, a talented organizer and a successful performer of this plan:

— We have defeated the Ukrainian mafia!

Including me.

Chapter eleven. The Svetogorsk fiasco

In mid-April, an excited Andrey from Moscow appeared in our office again — fuel oil is urgently needed for the Svetogorsk Pulp and Paper Mill, the plant is almost idle due to fuel shortage! Taking into account the previous positive experience of supplies and assistance in Lutsk, Khazir Daudovich agrees to supply five thousand tons of fuel oil from the Grozny refinery. But this is not enough for the buyer — and he goes to Vladislav Konstantinovich’s office for negotiations with the president, where I was present at that time. The conversation was about the supply of seven thousand tons of fuel oil from Kstovo. From a business discussion, negotiations have descended to the level of emotions like:

— Will you bet?! — I’ll bet!!, and you’ll pay?!! — I’ll pay!!!

Unacceptable liberty! They stood facing each other and exchanged angry glances, as before weighing before a fight. That’s what MMA is… I was silent because the honor and reputation of everyone who is above me in status was hurt. I admit that it was my mistake, it was necessary to intervene — what could such a beginning lead to? However, the experienced Gorchakov understood that urgent shipment could be provided no earlier than in three or four days, since the refinery is a huge inertial machine, there are plans for shipments, fuel production, tank supply and much more, the same export contracts. Thus, most of the start of deliveries on schedule would have passed on the twentieth of April, and the cargo itself would have arrived to the consumer in the last days of April — the first days of May. But he could not refuse Khazir Daudovich’s request. In addition, given the difference in distances, the beginning of May is the most realistic delivery time for fuel oil from Grozny.

In Svetogorsk, too, they were not fools — they ordered an urgent delivery for May from another seller, besides Andrey. It is unknown where the dispatching service of the combine and the sober heads of the management were, only by the eighth of May two deliveries, April and May, twelve thousand tons of ours and ten of others, converged at the Svetogorsk station. Wait a minute, twenty-two thousand tons — three hundred and sixty tanks on the railway tracks of the station and the plant itself! This collapse led to the transport paralysis of the enterprise, the combine could not even export its products, and the downtime of our tanks, and this is a lot of money. Andrey went to investigate the problem as a supplier, from us Sergey as the owner of the cargo with our driver. From fragmentary information: in Svetogorsk there was a serious conflict with factory and especially with May suppliers, it came to a brawl, whose tanks were the first to drain, they say, we were almost killed. The guys from Svetogorsk returned to our office late at night overexcited, Sergei sent someone from the management in a drunken state and was fired in the morning of the same day for his prank. I was sorry to part with him, he proved himself to be an outstanding person, purposeful and enthusiastic, who read Shakespeare in the original, however, after the fifth glass of «coffee». He loved to shoo, somehow appeared drunk in the «Holding» in a flashy tie, khaki suit and a cigar in his teeth — Mr. Twister, businessman and banker!

Once he provoked an international conflict: he attached his fantasy to the photo of the US president and sent the said creation to the fax of the American consulate in St. Petersburg. The Americans shared the news with the police department, and a fine of several thousand rubles was issued to our office phone — to the company, of course. Despite the temporary setbacks, with the knowledge of Voytalyuk and secretly from me, he broke into the program of cooperation with the United States, where he left for a week, personally communicated with the famous economist, academician Leontiev and despite the strict ban («fuck them…") was photographed at the CIA headquarters in Langley against the background of the American flag. A few photos with Mr. Leontiev and in the holy of holies of American intelligence in the album to confirm his unquenchable vanity: That’s the kind of dude I am… It became cramped for him at our place, cramped. It’s not surprising: he is now a fairly well-known media personality in St. Petersburg, an advertising agent and the representative of two foreign companies in Russia. He found himself: look at how Sergei dances at the presentation: it’s his soul dancing! In general, I’m happy for him…

Chapter twelve. Dell Holdings Limited

I was suddenly transferred to another office together with Inna, a smart and quick-witted girl who recently worked in our department, the room was equipped with new computers and stylish furniture. Then Vladislav Konstantinovich came up to me and quietly informed me that now we are working together, Oleg Borisovich from the leadership and, of course, the president. All information is closed, including from my friends — Viktor Vasilyevich and Sergey. You are leaving the Holding, now you and Inna are working for a foreign firm Dell Holdings Limited with jurisdiction on distant islands, you personally will have the authority to sign operational documents and salary… dollars, plus bonuses for transactions. Access to our premises for all other employees is prohibited…

Folders with documents: contracts, payments, letters of credit, correspondence, terms and definitions of international trade, generally accepted abbreviations — all in English. When I have time, I study the features of sea transportation — freight rate, worldscale, demurrage, laytime. ASAP! I am improving the manner of telephone conversations, memorizing phrases and whole paragraphs of standard formulations of commercial documents, Inna, a clever girl, my assistant, is also trying.

Belarusians have woken up. Their director is on the wire: they are ready to bring fifty. Thousands of dollars, of course, but you can’t say that on the phone. Two conditions: the first one is passed only to me, since the courier Oleg knows you by sight. The second is that he has a return flight in two hours, and the transfer is only at Pulkovo airport. We have to agree, otherwise our money will not arrive. We will think about how to organize the transfer.

From the point of view of secrecy, there are no restrictions under the old contract — therefore I’m going to Voytalyuk. He is working on this issue with «friends», calls where it necessary and and he said — there is an option. We inform Oleg Borisovich, we get the «good», but as usual, also an attempt to change the situation:

— And without you, Vladimir Ivanovich alone will not cope?

— He will not be accepted there (in the intelligence agency) — Viktor Vasilyevich replied with relief.

We get into our native Lada car with cop numbers («traffic cops» do not notice us) and rush to Pulkovo. In the airport lounge, I move forward, Vasilyevich is on the second line — who knows what our counterparties are up to there? In the man in the big black jacket I recognize Oleg from Gomel. He also recognized me and smiled — we met!

— I rubbed my whole back with knots where I hung the currency, — he complained.

— Oleg, — I ask harshly, — where will we transmit — in the toilet?

— I don’t know.

— Well, then let’s go to the KGB, — I tell him quietly with a stony face. Oleg’s legs are rooted to the floor, he turned very pale.

— Don’t be afraid, it’s all right, — I reassured him and thought:

— You, bitches, scared me in Gomel too…