We won't work for food

NOT ONLY ROSATOM

As for the relationship between the company "InnoInvest" with the state corporation Rosatom, they can not be called a relationship - it is most likely sporadically emerging business relations at the level of contracts. Since the nuclear renaissance announced earlier by the head of Rosatom Sergey Kirienko does not come, we have to diversify our relations in this area, that is, try to work on others. For example, we were able to do this on the European market, because Rosatom's presence in Europe is very conditional – it is conditional, first of all, in terms of competitive procedures.

THERE ARE NO REASONS FOR FORCE MAJEURE

In addition, we have made progress in our work on the Akkuyu nuclear power plant under construction in Turkey. Naturally, there is some nervousness due to the political confrontation between Russia and Turkey. However, there are no official documents from the Turkish side that have revoked or suspended the contract. Since the war has not been declared, we have no reason to believe that this is a force majeure situation. There have been some progress on the construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant in the Grodno region, with two tenders being held for it. Three participants have been selected, and Rosatom is overseeing the process.

LIVING WITHOUT ADVANCES

In our partnership relations with the Rosenergoatom concern, there is such a tendency – the customer believes that suppliers should work for food. This approach to partnership is typical for many state-owned companies - it has been preserved since Soviet times and now it is most pronounced. What does it mean? We show the customer our pricing, while money is getting cheaper, energy and rental prices are growing. While the customer demands a constant reduction in price even in relation to the prices of 2014. And there are no advance payments, and the money is frozen for the duration of the competition, so you're already incurring expenses even though you're not the winner yet.

THE ONLY ONE IN RUSSIA AND THE BEST IN EUROPE

We are engaged exclusively in filtration equipment, and there are very few participants in the filtration market in Russia – only two or three companies. There is a corresponding order from Rostekhnadzor, which obliges nuclear power plants to control the efficiency of the supplied filters. The order had to be fulfilled this year, but the nuclear power plants did not fulfill it for various reasons, and therefore its fulfillment was postponed to 2017. The Department of Radiation Protection of Rosenergoatom selected representatives from all nuclear power plants, science, and manufacturers of filtration equipment in order to "reconcile" all participants in this process, so that they would work according to the same formulas and rules. There are regulatory documents, but they are interpreted differently. It is one thing to test the effectiveness of a filter in a laboratory setting, and another thing to do it in a real-life situation, such as in a ventilation shaft at a nuclear power plant with high levels of contamination.

Naturally, filters do not show laboratory efficiency in mines. However, we supply high-quality filters that customers want, and the problems of filter operation seem to be exclusively the customers' problems. Nevertheless, our company has developed a testing stand for filter equipment that is the only one in Russia and one of the best in Europe, as it complies with REN1822, one of the few domestic GOSTs that are harmonized with European standards. We have designed the stand, coordinated it with the head measurement institute VNIIFT, and in March 2016, we plan to certify it, include it in the State Register of Measuring Instruments, and put it into operation. We have invited all the participants of the NPP to the opening of this stand to ensure that it provides proper quality control of filter efficiency. Additionally, we have proposed that Rosenergoatom can participate in the operation of this stand. We are even willing to create a company with shares of Rosenergoatom in order to remove our affiliation from this stand. Please use it and check all the filters. This is because nuclear power plants also need to check their filters, but it is not profitable to build their own stand for the 100 filters they receive. Our company produces thousands of filters per year. The stand's cost is approximately 7 million rubles. It uses nanotechnology, laser counters, and aerosol generators, and there is no import substitution involved.

CASH BREAKDOWN

If we summarize the results in comparison with the previous year, 2014, then according to the papers - the so-called Cash Flow - on closed acts, on the shipped products, we doubled our turnover. And on the cash register – Cash-In – there was a crazy cash gap, about 30 million rubles. That is, so much money our customers owe us for the shipped products. This time gap reaches two months or more, and now we are forced to find funds for people to pay their salaries. State-owned companies look down on partnerships with private businesses, even though the Federal Law on Insolvency is in effect. Even if a company owes more than 100,000 rubles for more than a month, it is possible to file documents for insolvency. We are already preparing such documents. There are unequal partnerships between state-owned companies and private companies, which makes the business climate challenging and reduces our profitability.

GOOD FORTUNE BY GOOD WILL

Three qualities are needed to run a successful business. First, in 97 out of 100 cases, it is experience. Second, it is necessary to have a voluntary desire to do business 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Third, it is luck. These are the three qualities necessary for running a successful business. I wish that the three percent of people who are engaged in business would keep these three factors in mind in the new year, 2016. In business, it is also important to invest money in places where there is asymmetry, where something is lacking. Where everything is symmetrical, money does not grow.

Prepared by Sergey Korotkov

Source: Obninsky Vestnik newspaper № 93 (943) dated 17.12.15