Your revenues for
last year amount $150 millions US. What have been
the growth factors for Prisco over the past years?
Has it been Sakhalin?
It's not only the Sakhalin projects but also the
results of our work during the past 5-6 years. We
understood and managed to achieve our main goal:
to become the partner of all the main oil companies
around the world. Our wish to become partner of
all these companies is connected with the fact that
they have 70% of the oil cargo turnover. But of
course it is also the result of Sakhalin; revenues
of Sakhalin have reached 17,20% of the revenues
of the company as they used to be around 4-5% before!
Will that include in the near future your new
tank structure? Will you be ready for LNG (Liquefied
Natural Gas) deliveries in 2006?
We will manage to do and finish everything by 2006,
but we still need to work a lot. Our main task is
now to find money or investments but to find "works".
If we want to become a reliable partner of the most
prestigious international companies, we have to
struggle for work! Our main task is to be a highly
organized company that can meet all the requirements
of companies such as Exxon, Shell and British Petroleum.
We of course have already achieved good results
but a lot of tasks are still waiting us!
Is it a charge sometimes to show multinational
companies that you are a credible organization to
be partner with?
There is one negative feature in the Russian's characters:
it is laziness. In our company, we are at the stage
where we are getting rid of this feature. It is
not a challenge anymore for us. But of course I
have to recognize that some times work is not easy
and we had to use new methods in the management
and we know, now, how to face difficult tasks in
relation with our business. In order words, we use
the same language as leading companies! and all
the doubts we had have disappeared.
Now you are investing in 6 new tankers. Is this
a preparation for a major increase in the volume
of cargo transported by PRISO?
Yes, we are now building 2 tankers but in the very
near future we are going to start with 3-4 other
tankers, all of them will be used in relation with
the Sakhalin Project. Probably will need more vessels
but everything depends on the volume of work will
get or the volume of work we are going to struggle
for!
Why the name of St Nicholas for one of your tanker?
First we are going to use St Peter, St Paul and
all the apostles!
So while you are investing in new ships, are
you also investing in order to increase your relation
with Asian market, which is also going to be your
major destination as business increases?
Of course we are investing in the Asian market.
The situation is changing. The fleet used to be
managed 100% from Nakhodka, but now 80% come from
Singapore. Probably will have to manage our fleet
from China but I don't really think it's going to
happen soon. Nevertheless we don't have to ignore
these changes and that's the reason why we open
our representative office in Shanghais. As for the
construction of our fleet we are oriented to Japan
and South Korea but I hope that, as we are building
two steamships in Croatia, Europe will not loose
its 10% market share in the sector of the fleet
construction in order to see the competitiveness
between these two important markets (Asia and Europe).
It's very important because you should not concentrate
the entire sector on the same continent.
You are at the same time diversifying your business.
We have PriscoCapital Bank, Prisco Forest. Now you
are looking to the construction of housing in Sakhalin.
What is the next step for your company?
We going to involve us seriously into crewing work
and prepare our specialists for working with the
leading companies in the world. It can be objectively
understood: if we don't do it soon we're going to
have only Chinese seamen in all the oceans. That's
why we have to work on this field in order to forestall
the others. I have an other point of view than a
usual entrepreneur who would search the cheapest
labor forces. But we cannot let this labor become
one nationality. It should consist of different
nationalities, a kind of "good balance".
Either you agree or no, the genetic funds of nations
are mixed, we have to learn from each others and
compete constantly in order to get rid of the negative
"things" we have inside. Otherwise we
are going to be all with crooked legs! |
What is your opinion
about the rumors that FESCO wants to take over the
majority in PRISCO?
I am the seller and I am NOT going to sell anything!
so it is not true! PRISCO cannot be bought.
Sometime ago you said that Primorsky Region should
be run like your company! What is your vision for
Primorsky Krai and should it be managed?
There is a lot of positive changing that has happened
during the last year in our country and our region.
But there is one thing we have not considered. We
are talking about democracy forgetting our .....about
the laws. But these things cannot be divided. But
in order to combine them, we need to prepare people.
50% of the persons who manage the region are totally
unprepared, because they managed to come to power
via an incorrect way using only their PR skills.
That's why it should have been better not to elect
people but to point them and of course choose persons
who know what management means! Within this situation
of poor management you can easily understand why
even if we spoke about investments we only have
a few successful examples. There is no guarantee
that they will be paid back!!! and you can also
understand that foreign investors will not go where
laws are weak and were managers are more interested
in getting investments than in the reimbursement
of these.
For Primorsky Krai, I think we need some times to
create a normal management environment, stable opportunities
and to show foreigners that the region is resourceful.
It is of course my personal point of view and many
people do not share this opinion but I am sure that
time will come when the leaders of the region will
be appointed.
Will you run for Governor's office again?
No. I have a wonderful job and the mood I used to
have 4 or 5 years ago has passed and my efforts
should be directed to fulfill tasks in the company
and in the shipping sector in general.
We have a lot of questions to solve in the shipping
sector in Russia. They are very serious. As in Russia
we lost two thirds of the fleet. We have to begin
to solve this problem. Otherwise foreign ships soon
will carry the hydrocarbon fuel volumes we have
begun to export.
I can give you an example in the year 2001 only
5% of the export potential of Russia was delivered
by Russian fleet. The minimum we should have is
at least 50%. And only high-qualified persons should
deal with this target! America an other countries
have of course already reached this objective but
it took a lot of time to get where they are now.
For our company and our country we need to use our
experience and pass this objective in a short period
of time. We will reach it only by means of education
and study, especially if we are speaking about the
leaders of the region. They need to be tough. If
the work without studying they will never know about
the mistakes of the people who passed this way and
we will pass again through the same mistakes!!!
I always give the example of the mobile phone, which
was invented a few years ago. It is not an invention
of the former Soviet Union or Russia. Nevertheless
we now use it and we have positive results and we
obtained these results in a short period of time!
Even shorter than other developed countries! The
same can be said about the ability to manage. The
same approach should be used, we should use the
experience of others.
Let meet us in three years and our figure will be
70%, when we will work on our own cargo base. Now
we have 20%, maybe in 3 maximum 4 years it's going
to be 70%. And my dream is to retire when we'll
reach 90%. In this dream we will have BP, EXXON
working here with us. The main goal of our company
is as I said before to become a reliable partner
of all these leading multinational companies. Let
us be small but still next to them. We are ready
to study and study again!!! |
