On April 3, 2018, Dmitry Buzlaev, who previously held the position of Chief Engineer of Transneft Druzhba, was appointed General Director of Transneft Volga.

Dmitry Yurievich Buzlaev was born in Kstovo, Gorky Region, in 1974.

In 1996 he graduated from the Togliatti Higher Military Command Engineering Construction School. Specialty - engineer for the construction and operation of buildings and structures.

In 2002 he graduated from the Ufa State Oil Technical University, professional retraining under the program: "Design and operation of gas and oil pipelines and gas and oil storage facilities."

In the system of Transneft, D.Yu. Buzlaev has been working since 1999. He began his career in the field of oil pipeline transportation at the Gorky oil pumping station of the Gorky Oil Pipeline Department of Verkhnevolzhsknefteprovod OJSC. For eleven years D.Yu. Buzlaev has gone through the career path from a working position to senior positions in JSC "Verkhnevolzhsknefteprovod".

From February 2010, D. Yu. Buzlaev worked at Transneft Druzhba JSC as Deputy General Director for Operations, and since 2012 - Chief Engineer.

For his great contribution to the development of the oil pipeline industry, Dmitry Buzlaev has been repeatedly awarded departmental and corporate awards.

“Someone pale, quiet and shy comes in. “And this is Vova,” Tokarev says. Someone from the company invites: “Vova, sit down, let's have a drink ...” “No,” Tokarev answers for him. “Vova doesn’t drink with us.”

It was no coincidence that Nikolai Tokarev was born in the KGB on December 20, the Day of the Chekist. The KGB drew attention to him when Tokarev studied at the Karaganda Polytechnic Institute - a scrupulous student showed the ability to systematize and analyze. After graduating from the institute in 1973, Tokarev worked at various enterprises, where he monitored whether secrecy was observed and whether there were any anti-Soviet sentiments. In 1978, Tokarev was assigned to study at the Moscow Higher School of the KGB at the two-year eighth faculty, which was located in Bolshoi Kiselny Lane, in the former building of the tsarist gendarme department. Together with Tokarev at the same faculty, but in a different - French - group, the chairman of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin studied.

Tokarev showed promise and was able to become a foreman of the course. Once he was instructed to engage in attestation of listeners - to write characteristics. Here is how one of Naryshkin's acquaintances recalls this: “In my youth, everything happened: small episodes - someone drank or got into a fight. Nothing serious. But Tokarev began to enter all this into the very first certification. The head of the course says to him: “Well, why are you writing all this? Everything is just beginning for them, and you, because of trifles, spoil the whole prospect for them. And Tokarev insists: “No, we must be principled, everything must be reflected, there is no place like them ...”

Tokarev, according to the interlocutor of Vedomosti, knew how to impress his superiors. The head of the course had a big old clock with vignettes and angels, which had been preserved in the school building almost from the time of the gendarmes. This clock did not work. Once on a subbotnik, when the listeners were cleaning, Tokarev spent several hours and cleaned these hours to a shine. And then he removed the mechanism and repaired it.

In the early 1980s, after school, Tokarev was sent to work abroad - in the Dresden KGB residency. In the mid-1980s, Putin came to serve there. Tokarev, as a senior comrade, took Putin under his wing, took care of him in every possible way, recalls their colleague.

“Almost the entire KGB residency in Dresden lived in the same building,” he says. - The doors were not closed, they constantly went to visit each other. Somehow we are sitting with Tokarev in the company. Someone pale, quiet and shy comes in. “And this is Vova,” says Tokarev. Someone from the company invites: “Vova, sit down, let's have a drink ...” “No,” Tokarev answers for him. “Vova doesn’t drink with us.”

The authorities liked Tokarev here too. “They were called “tour guides” behind their backs,” continues the interlocutor of Vedomosti. - The wives of various Central Committee figures or KGB apparatchiks came to the GDR, they stayed at the base of the Soviet Wismuth association - there were separate houses, everything was clean and tidy. Tokarev could take them on a tour: the treasures of the Saxon kings, the Green Vaults (a collection of jewels), the Dresden Gallery… There was enough for four days of this tour.”

Nikolai Tokarev took care of Vladimir Putin back in the Dresden KGB residency, and then Putin entrusted him with a state-owned company. Photo: A. Babushkin / RIA Novosti

In 1990, Putin returned to the Leningrad department of the KGB, while Tokarev, according to the recollection of one of his colleagues, remained. He was transferred to Berlin, where he worked for a year in the inspection group - "monitored the appearance of employees." And in 1996, the paths of Tokarev and Putin crossed again, but the roles changed: now Putin, who by that time had become the deputy manager of the president, patronized Tokarev. “Vladimir Vladimirovich and I worked in the presidential administration,” Tokarev recalled in an interview with Vedomosti in 2008. “He was the direct curator of the direction of foreign economic activity, where I dealt with property issues. Quite a lot of work to do. And in life then we had to deal with different topics together. ”

In March 2000, Putin became president, in September of the same year, Tokarev received the post of general director of Zarubezhneft.

at Zarubezhneft

Ponomarenko and Skorobogatko found countermeasures: they sold a stake in NCSP to another friend of Putin - Arkady Rotenberg. It did not help to stay in business: in January 2011, Ponomarenko, Skorobogatko and Rotenberg sold 50.1% of the port to the tandem of Transneft and Summa. But it helped to get a good price: Magomedov told Vedomosti that the package cost between $2 billion and $2.5 billion. While on the LSE on the day the deal was closed, it cost $1.38 billion.

Now Transneft and Magomedov control both of the country's largest ports.

in good company

At the end of 2011, Tokarev and his entourage themselves found themselves in the role of being tested. On December 19, Putin unexpectedly attacked the “obsessed” energy workers, and then, on December 28, an order was issued in which he asked all state-owned companies to report “on income, property and property obligations” of top managers and their relatives - spouses, children, parents , siblings. The deadline, given the amount of information requested, was completely unrealistic - January 10, 2012. Sechin is considered the inspirer of this campaign. Tokarev had friction with Sechin, and Tokarev, according to his acquaintances, showed concern (in the fall of 2012, his contract was ending). A Rosneft spokesman called the talk of friction between Sechin and Tokarev "speculation", stressing that Sechin and Tokarev have been on friendly terms for years. The representative of Transneft did not answer the questions of Vedomosti.

After Igor Sechin launched a campaign to combat conflicts of interest, Nikolai Tokarev left a key deputy, and Tokarev's wife got rid of her stake in a Czech company. Photo: Alexei Nikolsky / RIA Novosti

In the midst of the hunt for state top managers, in January 2012, First Vice President Mikhail Arustamov resigned from Transneft. He worked as Tokarev's deputy back at Zarubezhneft, and then moved to Transneft together with him. One of the contractors of Transneft recalls that there was no such issue in the monopoly that Arustamov could not solve: Tokarev completely trusted him and the main work - whether it was construction contracts or oil pumping schedules - lay precisely on Arustamov. They wrote that Arustamov himself is connected with the trading business (see inset).

Arustamov was close to Tokarev. According to the Czech registry, in 2005, Arustamov and Tokarev's wife Galina became the owners of the Czech company Pramo Technologies, which was engaged in real estate rental (this is a common way to buy real estate in the Czech Republic; one can recall, for example, the recent story with the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin). And on January 2, 2012, at the very beginning of the declaration campaign and the long New Year holidays, Tokareva, as evidenced by the register, ceased to be the owner of 50% of the Czech company, and Arustamov received all 100%.

Former Vice President of Transneft Mikhail Arustamov and his wife Nikolai Tokarev were co-owners of a Czech real estate company

A former employee of Transneft says that, having fired Arustamov from the post of vice president, Tokarev left him as an adviser - it is not so easy to do without a right hand. “Yes, he is an adviser, but his phone number is not in the directory,” Transneft also told Vedomosti last week.

But Arustamov himself claims that he cut off all ties with Transneft: “I have not worked in the company for more than a year, I quit Transneft on January 21, 2012, so all these maxims that I am an adviser are someone’s an attempt to disavow the role of the company - that it is not managed by the company's management, but by outsiders who no longer work<…>I was going to quit in the middle of the year before last, and the head did not let me go. And with the new year I left. First, he became an adviser, and then he completely left, because it was impossible, due to certain circumstances, to keep up this intense rhythm of work. Neither on the contract, nor on the employment contract [I am not].”

Tokarev lost another key employee a year before Arustamov - in January 2011, Vice President for Finance Vladimir Kushnarev left Transneft, who also started working with Tokarev back at Zarubezhneft (see below).

Tokarev's employment contract was extended for three years.

Relatives: Maya Bolotova and pharmacists

The daughter of Nikolai Tokarev, Maya Bolotova, is a doctor by profession. In SPARK for 2010, she is listed as the owner of 24% of Pharmeco, which owns Irvin-2, a major supplier of medicines for government needs. In 2008–2012 Irvin-2 signed state contracts for the supply of drugs under the 7 Nosologies program (the most expensive drugs are purchased under it) for 14.4 billion rubles, the Pharmaceutical Bulletin calculated, based on data from the public procurement portal and the Sberbank-AST platform . The Unified Register of Government Contracts shows that since 2007 contracts worth 13.1 billion rubles have been signed with Irvin-2. The company's revenue in 2011 was 10.77 billion rubles, and net profit - 430 million rubles.
Pharmeco also owns shares in Emvico (50%) and Research and Production Complex Nanosystems (30%), which also have government contracts.

Relatives: Vladimir Kushnarev and insurance

Vladimir Kushnarev, who left the post of Vice President for Finance of Transneft two years ago, worked side by side with Nikolai Tokarev for about 10 years. In the early 2000s, Tokarev invited Kushnarev to Zarubezhneft as a deputy. Prior to that, Kushnarev was a co-owner and chairman of the board of the Plateau insurance company for five years; its second co-owner and general director was Kushnarev's wife, Tatyana.
In 2003, Zarubezhneft and its Vietnamese joint ventures Vietsovpetro (more than $200 million in property insurance) and Vietross ($60 million) appeared on the Plato website in the list of the company's clients. There was such a business, but “I personally voluntarily” refused it, Kushnareva told Vedomosti. “Because there is no point in it - huge losses and big problems with regulation,” she explained. In 2011–2012 The Plateau website has changed and the subsidiaries of Zarubezhneft have disappeared from the list of clients.

The former deputy of Nikolai Tokarev in Zarubezhneft, and then in Transneft, Vladimir Kushnarev and his wife owned an insurance company that provided services to Zarubezhneft. Photo: Alexey Filippov / ITAR-TASS

But even now there is information that since 2002 a major shareholder of the company is the “daughter” of Zarubezhneft, Zarnestservis (this data is available both in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Rosstat). Kushnareva claims that this was a mistake and the deal never happened: “We started registering the issue prospectus, and then a decision was made that state-owned companies should get rid of non-core assets. Approximately in 2004, and it turned out that this issue was cancelled. We have a document that Zarnestservice did not pay any money. And, in fact, not even a single day was our shareholder.

With Transneft, according to Kushnareva, Plateau did not work at all. “When Vladimir Ivanovich [Kushnarev], at the request of Nikolai Petrovich [Tokarev], moved to Transneft, I didn’t even think about working with Transneft. You will work at the lowest rates, provide the best services, but you still will not prove anything. You made money because someone worked there [at the state-owned company]. Like this. Now the laws are like that,” says Kushnareva. Kushnarev could not be contacted.

Mikhail Arustamov and traders

Mikhail Arustamov has also known Nikolai Tokarev for many years and started working as his deputy back at Zarubezhneft.

At the end of last year, the Polish Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported that Arustamov could be associated with several oil traders - Normeston Trading, Concept Oil Services, Flontrano Trading Limited and Aurora Progress, who buy oil in the ports of Kozmino and Primorsk and had access to the oil pipeline "Friendship". According to Polish journalists, Arustamov's interests were represented by former Tatneft employee Dmitry Lagutov, who seems to have agreements with Arustamov for pumping.
These companies are mentioned in the materials of the Argus agency.

The Cypriot Flontrano was once able to cross the Vitol and Gunvor road. In July 2011, Zarubezhneft received a separate position in Primorsk and stopped shipments through Vitol. The position formed from the resources of Zarubezhneft was supposed to be sold by Flontrano in July, but later this trader agreed to split the company's volumes to create two July positions, for which he also diverted raw materials from "small producers". At the same time, Vitol and Gunvor were forced to purchase volumes from Rosneft, since they did not have enough raw materials from “small producers” to fill the tanker.

In the summer of 2011 Hong Kong Concept Oil received oil from independent producers in the port of Kozmino, expanded its activities and began to supply oil to Germany from small companies in Tatarstan, selling it to the Sunimex trader.

Both Arustamov and Lagutov deny information about their connections with these traders. “The companies that are listed here – I have nothing to do with them. I only read about the Aurora company in a Polish newspaper publication, which was referred to by some Russian agencies. She has nothing to do with me, ”Arustamov told Vedomosti. According to him, he met with Lagutov once, “it was 11 years ago in a government delegation to Cuba, when he worked for the state company Tatneft.

Lagutov claims that he has nothing to do with Aurora Progress, he has his own company - the Swiss Avrora Trading and Shipping.

Roman Shleynov

Good afternoon everyone! It so happened that, to my great regret, I had a chance to work at JSC "Transneft". Labor activity there was not long, only 3 months, but this was more than enough for me. As many have noted here, the working day is really irregular, human relations in the service in which I work were completely absent. One got the impression that they were simply ready to “tear apart and let the world go to pieces”, constant psychological pressure, such as “these are natural things”, “you should know this”, etc. etc. With the advent of for work, practically in the second week, they threw such a volume of work that, naturally, a new employee - a specialist is simply not able to master. It is clear that when this "blockage" could not be sorted out, harsh criticism began. Work in the service where I worked is quite specific , and you can gain knowledge and experience only by working there, and you need to work for at least a year, it may take some time even more. I concluded for myself: “You just need to adapt there.” for the soul. "In this system, there is no such thing when the head of the department is also responsible for the shortcomings of the employees and, accordingly, the employee is punished, and the boss seems to have nothing to do with it. This is what happened with me. Now, regarding the dismissal. Resigned by agreement of the parties, tk. was simply forced. There was such a threat, either you will quit by agreement, or you will work without a monthly bonus. Taking into account the fact that I had to get to my place of work from a neighboring city (60 km distance), it is unacceptable for me to work without a bonus. This was the main reason for my departure. Another unpleasant moment happened after the dismissal, when I found out, by chance from former colleagues, that I was being deprived of bonuses for the previous period. Everyone, probably, who worked in the OST knows that monthly bonuses are paid after 1.5 months. And in some way and on some basis, my name was included in the Order on the Remuneration of the RNU after I actually was not an employee. The result was that I was charged a bonus of 7% instead of the due 70% or 80% of the salary (I don’t remember exactly). Minusanuli in monetary terms by about 16,000 rubles. For my family, this is a big amount.
And finally, a wish to those who plan, dream of getting into the OST. Be realistic about your strengths. You must have a strong-willed character, be a charismatic, ambitious person, able to transcend universal principles and not feel remorse at the same time, then this is the job for you.

Diligent, clear in wording, dressed to the nines, even a specially selected glamorous shirt for a photo shoot in a glossy magazine. He keeps track of time, which means that he values ​​​​his time, is well organized and respects others. In general, there is nothing to complain about ... But personally, he conquered me not even with this, but with his endurance, the desire to realize his dream no matter what, and his love for our smaller brothers. The one who keeps four animals in the house cannot be indifferent to other people's troubles.

I am one of those people whose soul hurts ...

- Dmitry Alexandrovich, how did it happen that you, a person who seemed to be far from the municipal economy, were offered a job in the mayor's office?
- I consider myself an employee of the executive system, executive authorities. My work in the prosecutor's office was connected to a greater extent with supervision over the implementation of federal legislation, in particular, in the field of housing and communal services, consumer protection, and licensing. And before that, he worked in the city court for seven years. He started as a specialist, then became an assistant to the chairman of the court, he was from 2005 to 2009. Later he went to the prosecutor's office.

- So you consider your current position as a continuation of your career? Or is it a completely new topic for you in life?
- Of course, this is a continuation of a career. The very transition to the housing and communal services sector - first to the position of deputy head of the housing and communal services department - I considered it from the point of view of self-development, expanding knowledge, including in the field of legislation. This topic is quite complex in itself, and the legislation is also complex. And I came here with the thought: why not try yourself in this area and increase the area of ​​your knowledge in practice.

- The position of the head of the DZhKH, one might say, is a firing squad. The sphere is so problematic that both the city leadership and the townspeople can always find a reason to reproach you. Do you feel in yourself the strength to seriously change something for the better in the field?
— Yes, I feel it. And what you say is true. Because every person faces the sphere of housing and communal services. We get up in the morning - turn on the light, go to cook, turn on the water. On the way to work, we again encounter the improvement of the city: these are roads, landscaping, and improvement of yard areas. That is why in the first place in my duties is to ensure the vital activity of the population of the city. I perfectly understand the share of responsibility that is entrusted to me.

- How did your life change when you took the chair of the head of the housing and communal services department?
- It so happened that before this position, I also held responsible positions when I worked in the prosecutor's office. There, too, every situation is the fate of people. The decisions you made depended on how the lives of others would turn out. But I’m still one of those people whose soul hurts ... It often happened that you would come home and think about the situation again late in the evening or at night. A year of work as deputy head of the DZhKH seemed to me calmer compared to work in the prosecutor's office. Now that I have been appointed head of the housing and communal services department, I have returned to my former rhythm of life. I get up early and go to bed late. During the day there is a lot of organizational work, meetings and meetings. Work not even twelve hours a day, but fourteen. I can't say that I'm doing this job with some dissatisfaction. I am satisfied. Yes, there are certain difficulties, technical problems, gaps in knowledge. But at the same time, I have selected two employees who are technical specialists, one in the field of engineering, the other in the field of road management. And I am a specialist in the field of jurisprudence. Together we can solve serious problems. I set ambitious goals for myself and the team and I am ready to prove that both the city authorities and the housing and communal services are functional.

I made my childhood dream come true

- There was an opportunity to go on the prosecutor's path and further - why didn't it happen?
- After all, I didn’t leave the prosecutor’s office because something didn’t work out for me there. I myself decided to try myself in another industry and agreed to the offer to move to the department. I wanted to try myself in a different direction.

- Tell us how it all began, how did you choose a profession and why did you decide on jurisprudence?
- I graduated from the Capital Financial and Humanitarian Academy with a degree in jurisprudence. In general, the history of my professional definition is curious in itself. By and large, I realized my childhood dream. And he never regretted it. After all, I dreamed of working in law enforcement since childhood. At school, I was always better at humanities subjects. There were no difficulties with the exact sciences, but I liked the humanities more. After school, I wanted to get an education in Vladimir at the higher police school. But I didn’t manage to study there: my parents felt that the family would not be able to provide my accommodation and full-time education. I had no options but to find something in Cherepovets. Thoughts that it is possible to enter the same faculty of law in our city, neither I nor my parents arose. Yes, to be honest, when planning further employment in Cherepovets, many see the prospect of working at the plant. Therefore, I entered the ChSU with a degree in automation of technological processes and production. After studying there for two years, I realized that it was not mine, and left there. I did this against the will of my parents, in connection with which we did not talk for the next six months. I got a job as a loader in the company "Chicago" to the entrepreneur Igor Kozlov. As I remember now, it was spring. By autumn it was necessary to make a decision where and what kind of education to receive. Since I wanted to become a lawyer, I applied to the forestry technical school at the Faculty of Law. He studied and continued to work in Chicago, but not as a loader, but as a driver. In total, I worked at Igor Kozlov's enterprise for a year and a half, earned my first money here and went through a good school of life.

- Did you come to work in the city court after graduation?
No, it was completely different. It was 2002. I continued to study at the forestry. But since it was hard to combine study and work as a driver, I found another one - an administrator in a computer club (at that time they were not yet gambling establishments). However, after working for the summer, I realized that this did not quite suit me, and again began to look for work.

In search, he also reached the employment center. I was asked a series of usual questions - where I study, do I have a driver's license - and in the end they suggested that I apply to the city court, where there was a vacancy for a driver. At the interview, the chairman of the court - at that time it was headed by Vitaly Petrovich Zaitsev - suggested that I take a position in my specialty, a position of a specialist. He said: "The salary is small, but at the same time you will start to develop a certain practice." I agreed.

So, while studying at a technical school, I started working in the city court. After graduating from a technical school, he entered the institute, immediately in the third year. True, my study after school was eight years, but I went to my dream. In court, I worked both as a specialist and as a specialist of the first category. Subsequently, I was offered the position of assistant to the chairman of the court.

What school was the city court for you?
“This is a good school in terms of life, because you are faced with the fate of people. I learned to understand the measure of responsibility for what I do. I still believe that the city court is a forge of legal personnel for the city. Of those who started here, today no one is left without a job. There are a lot of smart, professional workers here. I still communicate with the majority, many of those with whom I started, now occupy leadership positions.

If you take up something, then you need to do it well.

- I think that the post of head of the housing and communal services department, which you occupy now, is not the limit of your dreams. What career heights would you like to conquer?
- I would like, of course, to do something good and significant in my life. But to date, I have not yet answered myself where I would like to work and what to do. I will not give a specific answer to your question today. My goal now is different - I want to show with my activities that I can work in the place of the head of the housing and communal services department. I want to justify the trust that was placed in me. And I will think about where to strive further when I achieve concrete results at this place.

- What are the main features of your character? In particular, are you ambitious?
- Maybe yes. I have quite high ambitions. As for some character traits ... Well, for example, I don’t like it when they speak badly of me. I begin to believe that if they speak negatively about me, it means that I did something wrong. I have an inner conviction that if I undertook something, then it is necessary to do it well. Or don't do it at all. This applies to everything in life. I try to finish everything I start. I have always respected this quality in people.

- What is typical for you in relations with subordinates?
— The employees, as well as people in general, must first of all be treated humanely and with understanding. I think that chopping off the shoulder is probably wrong. Every situation needs to be dealt with. If he or his employees are guilty, then yes, the guilty person must suffer the deserved punishment. But if, nevertheless, the information is not confirmed, then no. Any situation should be considered not one-sidedly, but comprehensively.

What do you not accept in people?
- I myself am a very patient person, this quality of character - poise - I inherited from my mother. I can endure and accumulate for a very long time. It is very difficult to bring me to a boiling point, but if you have brought me, then hold on. But that rarely happens. In addition, I do not accept when they shout or raise their voice at people, especially at subordinates, and, accordingly, I try to prevent this myself. In any case, it is better not to shout, but to argue why a person is wrong.

Are you terrible when angry?
- Well no (laughs). No, in principle. It doesn't come to handshake.

Everything that happens in life has to happen

- Do you have a thought - a quote or an aphorism - that helps you survive difficult situations?
- This is probably not a quote or an aphorism, but rather an inner conviction: in any negative you need to look for a touch of positive. I am like that in life. If there are any negative points, I always try to look for something positive, to see some positive aspects. They say that a pessimist in a cemetery sees only crosses, and an optimist sees only plus signs ... (Laughs.) I think that everything that happens in life should happen and life itself will put everything in its place. I had situations in my life when I tried to change something in it, but no matter how hard I tried, I did not succeed.

Is it a belief that everything in life is determined by someone?
“Not to say that I am a strong believer. I am baptized, I go to church. Moreover, I was baptized not in Cherepovets, but in the Pskov-Caves Monastery, which is located on the border with Estonia. When I was two years old, my parents went to those places to visit relatives, and I was christened there. I try to go to church on all church holidays, but not to say that I adhere to all the canons.

- What is your relationship with money, do you have enough of it in life?
- Money is evil (laughs). Money - everyone needs it, without it in any way. But I've never been obsessed with money. I take money very simply. Today I have them - good! There is no tomorrow - well, that means I will survive, there will be the day after tomorrow. Of course, I want to have enough for my needs. But I never aspired to earn a lot of money, drive expensive cars.

- And what do you drive?
- I have a Chinese SUV "Great Wall", and I'm fine with it. Before that, there was a Chevrolet Lacetti. I started with an eleven-year-old 99 with rotten props and an arch. I bought what I could then afford. Six months it restored, doing various repairs. Having traveled a bit, I changed the car for a better one, drove for a couple of years and changed again. Like most people, we live on credit, and I also bought my real car on credit.

About diving, hunting and pets

— Dmitry Alexandrovich, which topic is closer to you — sports, cars, hunting or art?
- Probably, after all, hunting and sports, or rather underwater sports. At the time, I was a swimmer. I went to training in the pool on Stalevarov. In general, I learned to swim there, later I was engaged in sports groups. He did not become a master of sports, but he gained a lot of experience and skill in this matter. For a long time I wanted to go scuba diving. And then one day I went to rest in Egypt. There are many excursions where vacationers are invited to scuba dive, so I took a chance ... The pleasure cost 10 dollars. And it happened to me not so long ago, four years ago. It was then that I realized that this is mine, what I want, I want to go diving! After that, already here, in Cherepovets, he met the head of the Glubina club, the president of the Federation of Underwater Sports of the Vologda Region, Alexander Gubin, and began to study under his leadership.
At first I was engaged only in diving, the time came, and I reached a professional level. Now I also do freediving and spearfishing.

- Why did diving capture you so much, is there an explanation for this?
- I tried myself in several sports, and I never liked either football or hockey. I don't know why... Maybe not mine. I have always liked swimming. This was the main reason why I still took up diving. In general, I love water: it relaxes, relieves negativity and stress. Now I participate in competitions as a judge: today I have the status of a sports judge in underwater sports.

- I understand that it is diving that takes free time. Do you still have time for some hobbies?
— Sometimes I go fishing and hunting with my father. Both my father and brother are hunters. I started hunting with my father at the age of twelve, at sixteen I already had my own hunting license and hunted on my own. So I go hunting and now as expected. It is only in the light of my underwater sports that I began to relate to the extermination of animals differently. And more and more often I ask myself the question, do I really need to kill this or that little animal. Lately I've been hunting and taking more pictures than shooting. I am very interested in underwater photography, I am interested in capturing everything that happens under water. I even made a video for the Vologda regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society. So for several years I have not brought production. The main purpose of my hunting trips is to unload, chat with friends, and relax in nature. Friends even gave me a machine for launching skeet targets, so at the end of the hunt we had a good tradition - to go out into the field and shoot skeet.

- While you are hunting, who is waiting for you at home?
- My wife Irina, besides her, our animals: a ferret, a dog and two turtles. I'm pretty good with animals. When I was four years old, my parents gave me a dog of the Moscow watchdog breed. It was the first animal that lived in our house. At one time I could ride it like a horse. Then there were also dogs and cats. And now not one pet, but all four. Irina and I wanted to have an unusual animal, and we bought a ferret; and since we are at work most of the time, we decided that our pet was bored alone, and bought a second one. But one of them fell ill and died after living for seven years. Since he was like a family member for us, we worried for a long time, grieved, especially our spouse. In order to somehow alleviate stress, my parents and I bought Irina a dog - a Pomeranian. As a result, this is what our company turned out to be. An animal in the house is always good, they know how to give positive emotions and teach them a sense of responsibility.

- What is your home for you - a place to relax or a lair where you hide in order to gain strength?
“My home is my castle. We have a rather small one-room apartment in the Zasheksninsky district. We bought it with a mortgage, but at least it's our home now. Everything that we have in life, we built it ourselves, achieved it ourselves. Now we go step by step to other goals: we still need to build a house, plant a tree and raise a son.

Text: Elena Boronina
Photo: Alexey Ustimov