"Serving the interests of public welfare requires more rights and freedoms for entrepreneurs"

You became a civil servant after more than ten years of experience in private businesses. Why did you decide to join the world of state administration?

What exactly urged me to work as a civil servant after several years of being a private entrepreneurs? I wanted that time, as I still want now, to ease the conditions for entrepreneurship in Russia. Trade, including cafés and restaurants, is among the largest branches of economy. I have some expertise in this field, and as ex-entrepreneur – a real former private entrepreneur, not a private corporation employee – I possess some unique experience: I personally experienced the realities of Russian entrepreneurship “from the inside”. And like any normal person, I constantly wished to change things, and there is quite a lot that needs to be changed. This is possible only by working in the public sector. Thus, when I got an offer to head the relevant branch of the Moscow Government and later the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, I agreed.

Has your approach to politics changed after your transition from business to state service? Do you believe that state service and politics need people with personal hands-on business experience?

Regular state service is, of course, a special area of activities requiring special approaches. The main point is that the results are not always measurable in money like in normal business. To the contrary, one must often reject opportunities that, for example, lead to budget profits but are harmful for the economy as a whole or go against public welfare. There are lots of people among civil servants that are, as state officials say, “from business”. But those are mostly former corporate employees, not only from private corporations, but also from state ones. These people are not “from business” in my eyes. I have a different kind of experience. I used to be an entrepreneur; I have led my own business – a small business – at my own risk. I can safely say that this is not the same as for example working as a manager of a large corporation – no offence intended. There are very few people like me with personal business experience working in state agencies, almost none. Thank God, my boss is pretty much like myself, thus, I believe, we have formed an effective team and we don’t need to explain each other things that are obvious to any true entrepreneur. We have a very difficult mission – to explain our colleagues lacking similar experience things that are sometimes quite obvious for us. For example, that the state cannot and should not tell entrepreneurs how to lead their businesses. The state must provide such conditions that entrepreneurs can apply their talents and conduct their activities. At the same time, the state needs to consider public interests. The less the state actually steps in to impose regulations, the better it is for all of us. Regulations must be exclusively aimed at upholding public welfare needs. It is extremely hard, but we believe that our work is vitally important.

Comparing your current position in the state administration and your past business activities: Does success depend on the same or different qualities? Which skills you have developed in business help you today in your job? And which are harmful?

It’s really hard to answer this question, it is too philosophical. Like I said, state service involves a special, peculiar kind of activities. I believe this applies not only to Russia, but also to other European countries. Like I already noted, the notions of result and process in business and civil service are often completely different, and they should be. I believe, for example, that the work of a state organ cannot be built on the principle of project work, with certain evident exceptions when something that needs to be realised has a definite beginning, end and distinct aim. Actually, 90% of state work consists of daily routine activities – regardless of whether we are talking about a police officer or ministry employee. This is a frequent matter of disputes between us and our colleagues that come from the abovementioned so-called “business”, I mean, former managers of large companies. They believe that much more can be done by means of project work, working in “project teams”. Time will tell, maybe they are right, but personally, I don’t think so. Thus, working for the state, you need to get used to a quite monotonous process, often strictly regulated as well. It is not easy, many people can’t stand that. Can civil service experience be applied for business? Assuming that business means working for a large company, then, probably, it can, to a certain extent. Talking about one’s own business – then probably not. It requires different qualities and competences. However, if you possess those qualities, then your state service experience will definitely not harm you, just like any other experience.