First of all thank you very much for taking the time to talk us in these very busy days for you, and for giving the readers of the STAUFF Blog the opportunity to get to know you a little better.

Please tell us about your story with STAUFF so far. 

I joined STAUFF Russia in 2006, when I was 21, after having graduated from university. The company had just been founded and it was a great opportunity for me to put my knowledge into practice.  

From the beginning, I worked as an Accountant, but with the continuous growth of the company, I began to fulfill the duties of a Financial Director. This happened quite quickly as STAUFF was developing very dynamically in the Russian market. 

My tasks in the Financial department included various duties like the preparation of financial statements and reports according to international standards as well as for Russian authorities, the ongoing analysis of the financial and economic activities, controlling, preparing of contracts, negotiations with Russian and foreign customers and suppliers, communication with auditors, human resources and some others. 

Due to the fact that my predecessor decided to open the next chapter of his professional career with STAUFF in France, I was asked by the global management and the shareholders to take over as General Manager of STAUFF Russia in October 2013. 

What changed for you when you accepted this new role in the company? 

By becoming the General Manager, I took over the responsibility for the entire company, so in addition to the financial department, my duties now also covered sales, marketing, production, logistics and others.  

Together with the dedicated and fully committed team of STAUFF Russia, we managed to bring the whole company to a higher level. 

Tell us something about the major milestones in the development of STAUFF Russia. 

During my early days with STAUFF Russia, which started soon after the foundation of the company in 2005, not less than six facilities were set up throughout Russia. In 2007, the first large supply contracts were signed with Russian customers. In 2008/2009, STAUFF Russia managed to overcome the financial crisis. At that time, some customers did not have enough working capital to cover all of their liabilities, so the entire situation very sensible. We had to conduct challenging negotiations to avoid stopping deliveries and potentially losing any of the customers on the one hand, and to make them pay the debts or at least ensure the solvency by bills of exchange on the other one. At the end of the day, everything went well, we kept the customers and increased the sales.  

Today, STAUFF Russia is not just a company selling individual components, but so much more. In 2014, we launched the tube bending department and started with the in-house production of tube assemblies. Furthermore, in 2017 the production of hydraulic hose assemblies was set up. As well as that, in 2020 the welding section was established.  

STAUFF Russia is constantly developing the engineering and manufacturing expertise and skills. Nowadays, the installation team is capable of performing the most complicated tasks. All this helped the company to quadruple the turnover compared to 2013 – always with a good operational result. 

Apart from this, STAUFF also successfully overcame the 2014 crisis which took place in Russia. While many Russian companies and the overall economy showed a significant decline, we were able to increase the turnover by more than 40 percent compared to the previous year. 

What prompted you to change the position of General Manager to Global Chief Financial Officer? 

The STAUFF Group is an extremely dynamic company, and I was able to contribute to its success with STAUFF Russia. It is an exciting challenge for me to now help shape and drive this dynamic forward on a global level.   

After graduating from university, I have always strived for self-development as well as for the development of STAUFF. Working as a Financial Director and having 2 small children to take care about at that time, I further studied the International Financial Reporting Standards in order to better understand its structure.  

As a General Manager, I transmitted this dynamic onto the development of the company. We have been constantly growing and entering new markets, expanding our production capabilities, etc.  

Now I am really looking forward to proving myself at a group level. I am confident that my experience gained in various positions in Russia, years of communication with international partners and good understanding of STAUFF will help me to contribute to the ongoing success of the group. 

What are your plans for the near future? 

Changing the country of one’s residence and relocating with the entire family from Russia to Germany is not as easy as it might seem, especially during the Corona pandemic. A great variety of everyday issues must be settled, beginning with the school for children and all kinds of documents and formalities and ending up with saucepans and pillows.  

The accent will be placed on learning the German language and getting familiar with the details of the company's global functions.  

Last but not least, at the same time, I will immediately start performing operational and strategic tasks of a Global Chief Financial Officer and also further support my successor to fully take over the management of STAUFF Russia. 

The STAUFF Blog likes to thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions and, on behalf of the entire STAUFF team, wishes you every success in your new role.