Interview by chief editor of Vestnik Kavkaza Maria Sidelnikova
Yesterday the long-awaited Pavshinsky bridge built by private developers and the Crocus Group was unveiled in Moscow. The president of the Crocus Group, Russian businessman of Azerbaijani origin Aras Agalarov, said: "For us, this project is our social commitment: we once built a subway station, so we partially participated in the financing of the bridge and in its construction." Vestnik Kavkaza also managed to ask several questions concerning the general economic situation in Russia.
- How do you assess the current economic situation in Russia and what are your predictions for 2015?
- The fact is that we live in a country that is addicted to high oil prices. The price of oil, unfortunately, has fallen, and I do not think it will rise in the foreseeable future, because there is a struggle for market share in the world. Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries do not want the US shale oil to hit the market, so prices will be kept at a fairly low level. This is my opinion, I could be wrong. But I think in 2015 the situation will remain difficult.
- What recipes for business survival can you offer?
- When America was suffering from the Great Depression, the US government asked Rockefeller to build the highest building in Midtown Manhattan. This building, built in the 1930s in New York, is today called the Rockefeller Center. Therefore, I believe that we must now turn to the domestic market and begin active construction of housing, industrial buildings, and other large projects. Construction leads to mass production of building materials, activization of the labour market, builders themselves also need housing, they also need a place to work, they need office space. This secures economic growth. Another example is Dubai. Within 20 years Dubai managed to build heaven in an area which was believed to be uninhabitable. Although the weather conditions are rather tough. Roughly speaking, there are two months of the year during which you can actually spend a vacation there. In summer there is inhuman heat. However, they succeeded, and they did it almost entirely on borrowed money. If someone thinks that Dubai has a lot of oil, it is not so. There is very little oil. So they used various tricks. They constructed entire islands, made artificial shorelines and so on. All this is possible. We should set ambitious tasks and fulfil them.
- How can Azerbaijan help in filling the Russian market after the introduction of Western sanctions?
- For trading in international relations, the word "help" is not appropriate. This is mutually-beneficial cooperation, I think, we may cooperate not only with Azerbaijan, but also with other countries of the former USSR. If you raise the old data, in Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, an enormous quantity of agricultural products was produced, which were available in almost all corners of the Soviet Union. Therefore, these connections are retrievable, I think we should go in this direction.
- What are the necessary mechanisms to secure the successful operation of so-called "social elevators"?
- Only hard work and dedication. It is difficult to give any other tip, because the start is, in fact, very difficult.
