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