RBC TV, DECEMBER 18, 2003

BUSINESS FILE

"I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT SINCE THIS TV CHANNEL STARTED WORKING WE BEGAN SLEEPING CONSIDERABLY LESS," ROSBUSINESSCONSULTING GENERAL DIRECTOR YURY ROVENSKY SMILED INVITING US TO HIS OFFICE. OF COURCE, RBC TV IS NOT JUST A CHANNEL; IT IS A LIFESTYLE AND A WAY OF THOUGHT.

- Bringing professionalism and information to the Russian business elite is certainly a great task. What is your vision of the social and cultural portrait of the audience you address?

- In my opinion, this is not just an audience; this is a kind of lifestyle: I would not dare to describe this style...

- Why not? You have been sketching since your childhood; currently you are keen on landscape design. Let's try to make a portrait of your audience...

- Well. This would be an active middle-aged person with a considerably higher-than-average income who is dedicated to his or her work; this is an ambitious person who has clear life objectives, not just career objectives but material as well. This is a person who long ago started thinking of how to manage his or her money, who has already achieved some wealth and can afford many of those things that used to seem very "cool" trappings of wealthy life: expensive cars, country houses, regular vacations at prestigious resorts: However, these are just some sketches of the portrait and everything that fills in spaces between these sketches is everyday life that is formed not just by work but also by some social sphere. This would be theaters, sports events, presentations and fashion shows. By the way, businesspersons are more and more interested in fashion. The brighter and more prominent a person is, the more dependence on his or her image, which a person should match, this person feels. This probably can explain the existence of some behavioral and psychological stereotypes and a system of values of the audience that we consider to be our target audience. All these things we try to reflect on our channel.

- There is very strict statistical data: the percentage of super prosperous Russian businessmen who apply for assistance to psychiatric clinics is pretty high. How do you estimate this problem and what is your attitude towards it?

- Unfortunately, you have to pay for everything in your life. Probably, the matter is not just in psychiatric assistance but also in medical help: The same statistics states that the number of heart attacks of young people have increased. Nowadays, if such a misfortune affects a person under 30, few people are surprised by it. Business activities were even prosecuted in Russia several years ago; entrepreneurship was a bad word. That is why when all these things became accessible, the feeling of self-realization emerged in many people. As a result, the pace of changes that we witness currently was set.

- What has been the strongest disappointment in your life?

- The largest disappointment is the feeling that circumstances do not depend on me and I have no power over them.

- Do you feel like a romantic, at least a little bit?

- I used to but not any longer.

- Why did it go away?

- Romanticism is a condition of the soul. This is the state of your human environment, the world:

- You mean that there is no room for romanticism in the life of a businessperson...

- No, I do not. It is very individual. However, a person who still can smile and be surprised has more chances for success. Business is not an individual notion in many ways; this is the issue of organizing work of different structures. Individual entrepreneurs are not called businessmen.

- What is the most adventurous or unusual act made by you personally, not Russian business on the whole, recently? Some unserious behavior, for example?

- It is hard to say. Well, if some unserious behavior: Not long ago in the summer, my friends and I were walking through a park. I suddenly wanted to climb a tree. And I climbed it. I do not know whether it is a crazy, stupid or foolish act: Probably it is not. However, it means that there is life yet in the old dog. And I remember one moment very well that occurred some 5 years ago. At that time the realization of the fact that a person is not always 18 came, may be, for the first time. We came to a summerhouse in a large loud company. There was such a pleasant atmosphere and sentiments... I do not know why but I remembered that in my childhood I used to make easily some floor exercise called a "bridge". And influenced by overall easiness and airiness I decided that I could do it at that time. As a result, the evening was spoiled because I did it but did not avoid "some injures and spraining" like they say in a well-known advertising. I do not want to say that I am an old man; the matter is that one day you realize that those crazy things that you used to do in your youth are not suitable already. This is not because life becomes less romantic and sensitive to unfolding events. It is just because a person changes; life changes.

- What is your internal motto?

- It is better to do something and wish you did not do it than not to do something and wish you did it.

- What are your thoughts when you wake up every morning?

- They are very different. However, recently I wake up and hectically try to remember what day of the week it is and whether it is a day-off by chance.

QUESTION-ANSWER

What is your attitude towards intrigues in business?

Unfortunately, I believe that business cannot exist without them.

What is your attitude towards cloning?

Your attitude towards the offspring of the lamb Dolly?

I do not have a problem with it. It has some potential.

What is your attitude towards the death of Princess Diana?

Unfortunately, we are mortal.

Does globalization suppresses culture and personality?

No.

What is your attitude towards activities of the Roman Catholic Pope?

I am confident that the church should be separated from the state. In my opinion, the fact that the Catholic Church actively tries to influence issues of interethnic relations does not characterize it in the best way.

What is your attitude to love?

I am looking for it.

What is your attitude to risk?

Within a reasonable range. Any risk should be justified. I will never stand on a railroad in front of an approaching train and calculate how many seconds I need to jump aside. I do not see any logic in this.

What is your attitude towards astrology?

I have always wanted to learn the names of constellations. I have even made one on the ceiling of one of the rooms in my new house. And this is enough for me.

What is your attitude to pets?

My attitude is positive but I cannot afford to keep some pet at home. With my rhythm of life it would be an unjustified punishment for an animal. You become responsible forever for what you've tamed. Golden words!

What is your attitude towards yourself?

Critical. Very critical.

VALERIA KUDRYAVTSEVA