Second, team play. I have a real professional team – competent people I can confidently delegate things to, without whom I wouldn't be able to do anything.
And the third point is cross-sector interaction, when you can approach the authorities and say: “Look, it just so happens that we're more in the loop than you are. Let's go there together and solve this problem together.”
We weren't afraid to set the bar high. Also I have a professional team – competent people I can confidently delegate things to, without whom I wouldn't be able to do anything.
Three or four years ago, the governor of Kaliningrad Region stood with me in the field where the Observer factory is now. I was explaining to him why this was the right spot to build. When foreign guests come to Russia and particularly to Kaliningrad Region, they will get their first impression of the country, starting with a green English lawn and a futuristic factory. He understood this and felt a sense of belonging.
We opened the factory together with the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, Anton Kotyakov. I hope he also has the sense of belonging to the project. Like everyone else in power. Someone saw it at the stage of excavation and pouring the foundation. And now they can compare it to what we have today. One of the most important conditions is interaction and the sense of belonging.
It turns out that learning to cooperate with the authorities is a prerequisite for success?
Yes, that's right. I keep saying this all the time. You need people in the government to be able to come to you, feeling comfortable knowing that you're not going to beg for excessive favors, but that you, as a team, can actually do something.
So this is not the classic Russian story with the government in one corner and the NGOs and businesses in the other; we do everything together.
And what about the opposite? What hindered your development? What are the key deterrents?
Last year we barely had the time to produce and ship our wheelchairs; this year we have 300 units sitting in the warehouse. The deterrent here is not another domestic manufacturer appearing, but the government purchasing wheelchairs from China.
Is import substitution possible in your case?
As a matter of fact, we are import substitution. Our wheelchair is made of 65 % Russian parts. If, God forbid, China is closed down for political reasons or due to COVID, we will be the only company able to make our wheelchairs domestically.