After high school, I passed my university exams. At the same time, me and my friend Nikolay started working over setting up our very first business. And we worked a lot. One company, which sold alcohol, offered for us to become their sales representatives (as it’s called nowadays): to buy their products at wholesale prices, and sell them at retail. Me and my friend (being about 17–18 years old), rented a place at the market – and started bringing alcohol to sell. Then, in 1991, there was nothing like market economy in Russia yet. There even was a joke: “If you stick a rod in the soil, it will be blooming soon (meant produce a profit)”.
The business went well. At first, we used to bring the products in a little cart. Then – by minivans. And finally (pretty fast, actually), by railway carriages. So, by the time we started our university studies, we had earned enough to buy a 3‑bedroom apartment, and 3 cars. We only bought those things as a way to invest our money.
I was a student, but my heart was won over by business so much that it became absolutely clear: it was what I wanted and would do. In the mornings I studied at the University, in the afternoons – sold alcohol. And that’s how it was everyday: the market, alcohol, and a huge income (for those days)… We, two young guys, gained so much money that I couldn’t lift the bag with daily earnings alone. We took bags of cash to Moscow, and bought railway carriages of products to deliver to Novosibirsk. By the time we arrived back home – we already had lots of people in line to purchase what we brought.
In the end, I couldn’t understand why would I need a university education at all. I was in my freshman year – and I came to the lectures driving my own car. Lots of beautiful girls surrounded me. We spent both time and money for our own entertainment, for our own pleasure. We enjoyed our lives… I felt I was free and almighty!
Those days, business was my major interest, and in business the most important thing was gaining more money, as wealth was exactly the thing giving me that feeling of freedom and might. What’s more (and I got that pretty fast), everyone around me loved money very much. Wherever you come go – everybody’s happy about that. “Wow!” – I thought, – “What a good guy I am! And life’s great when you have some money in your pocket!”