| 10 April 2006 | KMC Russia’s general manager, Sergiej Pronin has a history as an intelligence officer with the Soviet troops in Poland. Today he heads the sales of potato starch to the big market on the east. But he learned his first sales lessons already while still in the Soviet Army when he sold a road in Poland. Even his wife is a colonel Sergiej Pronin comes from a family with proud traditions in the Soviet military. He was born in 1963 in Hungary where his father was stationed as a colonel. -When I was five years old we moved back to Moscow. I went to school in Moscow and started at the Military Academy when I was 18, Sergiej Pronin tells. It was also at the military academy that Sergiej Pronin met his wife, Evgenia. But while Sergiej Pronin said goodbye to a career in the military almost 10 years ago Evgenia Pronin still has her uniform. Today she is employed by the military academy as an associate English professor. -My wife has outranked me. She is colonel while I only made major, Sergiej Pronin admits with a smile. |
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Taking the oath A very young Sergiej Pronin takes the oath at his admission to the military academy in '81. |
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Without disguise At the military academy Sergiej Pronin studied German and Polish. After having completed his education he worked in Riga for a year. Due to his good Polish language skills Sergiej Pronin was then stationed in Poland where he worked as an intelligence officer from 1987-1993. Sergiej Pronin's intelligence work did not have much in common with the image of a Russian intelligence agent that the movies from the years of the cold war paint. His job could be done without "hat and dark glasses" as most of it was done behind the desk. -My job was primarily to monitor the newspapers, radio, and TV. On this background I was to describe the actual situation in Poland and evaluate how it might develop. My reports would eventually end on the desk of the foreign affairs minister in Moscow, Sergiej Pronin informs. A new world But as was the case for many others Sergiej Pronin's world changed drastically in the early 1990'es. The Eastern Europeans' breakaway from the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Soviet Empire put a stop to the presence of the Soviet troops in Poland. - In 1993 it was decided to pull the Soviet troops out of Poland and I was among the last 30 to leave the territory, says Sergiej Pronin. Sold a road Before the pullout from Poland Sergiej Pronin was ordered by his superiors to find something that he could sell. The Soviet troops had invested in a number of roads and buildings in Poland that they for obvious reasons could not take with them. And even though Sergiej Pronin's imagination was put to the test he found a solution. -I found a remote cobbled road that I sold to a former Polish party secretary. We loaded the cobblestones on a truck and they were delivered straight to his door. And that is how I learned my first sales lesson, Sergiej Pronin tells with a smile. |
Intelligence work Sergiej Pronin's most important military work was done with a ballpoint pen as the most important weapon. |
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KMC replaced the military When Sergiej Pronin returned to Russia he was employed at the military academy. His job here mainly consisted of informing his colleagues about the conditions and circumstances in Poland. Sergiej Pronin got to know KMC already while he was still in the military. - I decided to make a career change and sent in my resignation to the military. This, of course, means that I will not receive a pension from the military, but I am happy with my decision and I am proud to be working for KMC today. Sergiej Pronin has thus been a part of KMC Russia since it was established in 1997. Audi for potato starch As general manager for KMC Russia Sergiej Pronin is responsible for all the countries in the old Soviet Union. -It is a big and expanding market. KMC is in a strong position in Russia because we were among the first to establish a foothold here. But all our competitors are also here and the battle for the customers is hard, Sergiej Pronin tells. Even though the Russian market has become more stable Sergiej Pronin has also seen potato starch being paid with alternative currency, namely an Audi 6. -We had a customer that had not paid on time. Finally I told him that if he did not pay I would have to take his car and sell it. And he agreed to this, Sergiej Pronin tells and adds: -The customer was in a way pleased that we could find a solution to his payment problems. He issued a document in which he transferred ownership of his car to me. I then sold it and that way the invoice got covered. |
Pravda The news is being studied by Sergiej and three of his buddies at the military academy. |
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Potato starch to the Duma The Russian market is just like most other markets, but still there are certain differences, Sergiej Pronin tells. KMC Russia for instance delivers starch to the Russian Duma (the Russian parliament) where it is being used in the production of a special drink, Kissel. -In Russia starch is also used in the production of rat poison and in the production of accumulators for submarines. And tapioca starch in used in modeling clay for children, Sergiej Pronin explains. -Even though the food industry in Russia is the largest consumer of starch we are always looking for new areas of application, Sergiej Pronin tells and points out: - Starch is like the air, you need it everywhere. |
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