There are a lot of people who are trying hard to sell themselves as Russian vodkas.
Considering that Americans are now moving away from whiskey, moving away from brown spirits in general, I believe that they will all join Russians who drink vodka straight. They will sip it like cognac.
I was proud of my Soviet country, of wearing Young Pioneer uniform, bombarded by my mother's Communist propaganda.
My biggest entertainment in Moscow was to go to the subway and watch people. When American students visited, I watched them; I learned English from them.
I started like many young Russian people in the beginning of perestroika when it seemed that everything was possible.
I had dreams about working for a big foreign company.
When you have premium brands, you have to have the right balance of communicating all of your values.
You need to be honest and always see new opportunities coming. So I call it intuition, innovation, execution - these are my working principles.
I own 100% of everything because I like to control what I do.
I would prefer myself to own all of my brand, where everything I am responsible for myself.
