The financing of most of the construction work in Ukraine has been frozen for over a year. Volodymyr Prodyvus, head of supervisory board of Mostobud, the country’s largest bridge constructing company, has used the situation to find new markets for his venture.

- December is the time to make wishes. Do you believe in horoscopes?

- Sometimes they and reality do match. By the way, it is my month now, the month of Sagittarius. But human destinies are much more complex than horoscopes. They are predetermined in a way, but much is in the hands of people themselves. Life gives everyone a chance. Therefore all people are the masters of their destinies.

- They say an artist has to be hungry to be creative. Does one have to be hungry to be successful in business?

- Can the current financial crisis be compared to hunger?

- Maybe…

- In that case, one can say that hunger (or crisis) is a periodically repeating condition of doing business. One always has to be ready for it and to be able to take positive things out of it. It is always necessary to rethink your business, restructure it and set it in accordance with the demands of time. All I can say for sure is that the crisis did not kill Mostobud. I perfectly understand how hard it is now for my team and I do thank people for their understanding. Accordingly, my personal obligations before these people have increased. Should we ride out the situation and bridge builders will live better, it will be my personal joy and award.

It is very popular to blast on the government these days. It is very simple to look for somebody to blame upon. But we do not live in space! The crisis could not bypass Ukraine! Whatever they say, I can see and feel the understanding from the Cabinet of Ministers. The government is doing everything to save the domestic bridge construction industry, including Mostobud.

- You are an optimist!

- Doing business without hope is like shooting yourself. When the crisis began I did not even have a thought that I would not be able to solve the emerged problems! Though there have been enough problems. You know yourself how people call something that always swims on the surface and never sinks. Well, it is definitely on the surface in the times of crisis. Non-payments have embraced all businesses. But you cannot stop doing your business. Otherwise, you will go nowhere… Many companies owe us money at the moment and so we owe someone. And here “it” comes surfacing. There have appeared partners who want to work without problems, as if there is no crisis at all. We have seen their real face and this is good. We have worked with some of them for many years and were confident in them. But in real life it appeared that somebody can betray you in the hardest moment. God will forgive them, but I do not want to business with such “partners” anymore. I do not think that anybody else will do business with them either. And those companies that met us halfway will definitely be supported by us during trying times.

- You are so confidently talking about life after crisis as if the crisis is over.

- I have to think about tomorrow. If I get stuck in the present day, my business will lose its perspective. 2010 is not going to be an easy year. It may be even harder than 2009. But it will be a more planned and a more predictable year. I personally think that next year we should be able to increase the construction volumes of the pre-crisis 2008 year three times.

- Aren’t you being too pompous?

- We are working on it, we are studying, analysing, calculating. We are doing something. Today we see how active financing within the framework of preparation to Euro-2012 has been. There is a large piece of work for Mostobud there as well. At the same time we understand that budget financing is limited. Therefore we spare no expense for foreign business trips in search of regions with decent financial solvency, where the possibilities of Mostobud are in demand. We send our specialists there, conduct negotiations, participate in tenders. There was never enough room for Mostobud in Ukraine. We are too powerful and too multi-field an organisation.

I was in Turkmenistan recently and I was strongly surprised. I got the impression people there had never heard of the word “crisis”. And there is so much work for us there. Today I can say that we are on the verge of signing a contract on constructing a bridge over the river of Amu Darya. The price of the quotation is half a billion dollars. We have already started forming a team to work on a rotational basis. Also, they have offered us various medium-size objects to construct – bridges, junctions, flyovers. All in all, there are about a hundred units for the total sum of 600-700 million dollars.

We won several tenders in Romania recently for the total sum of 100 million euros. There are very interesting perspectives for us in the Persian Gulf countries. Their infrastructure projects are fantastic! But moreover, they are absolutely real. It is no coincidence that the world’s leading construction giants have turned their eyes there.

It looks like the world financial crisis never touched the oil-prospecting Qatar and Bahrain. These countries are planning to start constructing the Bridge of Friendship in 2010. With the cost of three billion dollars and the length of 40 kilometres, it will be the longest bridge in the world. It will connect the countries and will shorten the hours-long trip between them to a mere half an hour. Our specialists have already been there. We are among the major contenders to participate in the project.

In Qatar, we are also getting ready to bid for a contract to reconstruct roads around the country’s capital Doha with multiple junctions, reconstruct the old port and construct a new port there. Total cost of these projects will be 30 million dollars and 2 billion dollars respectively. In addition, we are negotiating with partners with whom we intend to participate in the construction of a transcontinental railway that would connect the countries of Persian Gulf. We have also taken on various infrastructure projects in the United Arab Emirates. Up to 1.5 trillion dollars have been planned to be invested into construction in the course of the next seven years only. Of them 15-17% is road construction.

I have named only some projects that we have started working on. I can say the main thing: Mostobud is among the world’s most reputable construction brands abroad.


- It is common in December to look back at the departing year. And it is also your birthday in December. Why don’t we talk about you? I can hardly believe you dreamt of becoming a millionaire in your childhood…

- …I always wanted to be strong in order to protect myself and my family. This has always been my priority. And in my childhood I dreamt of becoming a pilot. But then life made me think of daily bread. You have to adjust your dreams if you want to survive. Therefore I learnt to give concrete tasks to myself. I earned money when I needed to earn it. And then I understood that if I could do it, then I would be able to do more… The main thing is never going back. If you ever drop the case halfway, it will become a system. I am sure that will to win is nurtured from one’s childhood.

- Can you name your first victory?

- I am not sure if it was my first victory, but it was definitely a hard one. Having tried all sport sections in school, I decided to start practising boxing. But the section was in the region centre, so I had to take a bus. It was 10 kopecks there and 10 kopecks back and there was not a spare kopeck at home. I remember my mom, a very wise woman, telling me: ‘If you want this money so much, you will earn it’. So I did! I calculated how much money I would need to go to my trainings in the course of one year. Then I thought of ways to earn the money. However, what ways to earn money does a boy in the countryside have? When the summer holidays started and my peers were swimming in the lake and playing all day long, I was working in the local farm from six o’clock in the morning… So by the end of August I earned even more than was needed. I proudly showed the money to my mother, put it in the piggy bank and said: ‘This is for one year’. I was 14 then. So I was very young when I understood it was necessary to work hard to achieve something.

At first they were reluctant to take me to the boxing section. They thought I was way too old to join a kids section, but I managed to persuade them. So I gave myself a task: I have to be the strongest among the strongest, the first among the first. And in one month I was participating in the opening of a regional championship, though other kids had been training for three or four years to participate in it. And I won! Then I heard someone asking my coach: ‘Where did you get that Indian boy?’ Having heard that, I realised I did not need a bigger award than those words.

- But why sports? Why not mathematics or physics?

- Back in school, I was neither a straight-A nor a straight-D pupil. Desire to study came to me only in the university. I also wanted to be the best there. Having graduated from the university, I found myself in a real meat grinder. Gorbachev came to power and perestroika began. Everything changed and nobody knew how to live. We were always taught: ‘You worked for a month, so here is your salary’. OK, there were also some odd jobs now and then. But perestroika was like being thrown into the open space: ‘Live as you want’. And everybody wanted to live high.

When nobody was yet speaking out loud about millions, I could easily talk about it. I remember my mother complaining: ‘You don’t even have a hundred rubles in your pocket, and you are talking about millions!’ And I would respond: ‘Indeed, I do not have a hundred, but there will be a million anyway’. I even fixed the date when my first million would come. But I made a mistake, for it happened twice as fast.

- How old were you when you earned your first million?

- Let’s leave it between us (laughs).

- Are you are gambler in business and life?

- I do not gamble in a casino or a lottery and I do not believe in fortuities. I have known since my childhood: you have to earn something to get something. Even today, when I have millions, I still know they have to be earned!

Though, like any real man, I am a risk-taker. But I take a risk only when I understand the risk is justified, calculated and it leads me to my objectives. Besides, you need to keep a reserve if you want to take a risk. That who risks everything is a narrow-minded person.

When I was younger I was more daring, of course. But when you bump your head several times, you start taking a more practical view of the situation.

- Sagittarius is usually a workaholic…

- There were times when I didn’t sleep for three days in a row. Today I try to follow the regimen. There has come an understanding that health needs to be guarded. You have to be cold-minded and look good in the morning, because your partners and your team members are looking at you. Besides, it is a responsibility: you have to finish what you started.

But you can never escape from business completely. There are always some thoughts going round in you head like a code in a lock. You have to wait until the code matches.

- Are you superstitious? What is your attitude to the saying ‘whoever is meant to be hanged will never drown’?

- I am a superstitious person. Indeed, much is predestined. But I know for sure that everything will be fine, calm and peaceful. My friends will live a long life…

- If it is predestined, how do you know it?

- Because thoughts are materialised. I only do good things and I never do bad things. So, only good things will come. And I believe in it…

- Go on, then. It sounds like a good toast…

- You have to live your life today and enjoy it in full today! You are healthy, your family and friends are near, so enjoy it! Your job brings you pleasure and money, so enjoy it! You can have a hundred grams of vodka, so enjoy it! You can spit on everything and go to bed, so enjoy it! You can catch the next plane to warm seas, so enjoy it! Enjoy life and be happy!

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