President of AlexanderGrad Brownfield Group Vladimir Gamza turned 70 this year. He heads the Council for Financial, Industrial and Investment Policy at Russia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry and leads the ESG Industrial Renovation Project. He is a member of the CCI board, member of the Investment Commission and the Commission for Economics and Finance at the State Council of Russia, chairman of the committee for construction and renovation of industrial facilities of the Russian Union of Builders, member of the Financial Policy Committee, the Commission for Construction Complex, and member of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Professor Artem Genkin, founder of the Invest Foresight business magazine, talked to Mr. Gamza about his personal and professional experience, his family and plans for the future.
– I’ve always wanted to ask you about the origins and meaning of your last name.
– The name Gamza (Hamza) is found in most countries of the Persian Gulf, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea region and the Caucasus. As a surname, Gamza is most common among Persians, Arabs and Jews. In medieval Russian, the word gamza meant a coin and a coin purse.
– You have two degrees, in Economics and Law. What were the subjects of your dissertation research?
– My economics thesis focused on risk management in a commercial organization, and the law thesis, on the security of a commercial bank.
My economic research was later used to develop the first Russian textbook on risk management, and the material from my law thesis was used for the first textbook on bank security (both textbooks have seen multiple reprints in the last 20 years).
– How long have you been living in Moscow? Do you think of Russia’s capital, or a specific neighborhood here, as your hometown? Or does that still refer to the place where you grew up?
– I have been living in Moscow for more than 40 years. However, I was born in the Amur Region, where I grew up and went to school, and later participated in the construction of the BAM railway. That is my home region.
– I know that you have personally participated in many milestone events on a national scale. Can you think of a historical episode, or a famous personality perhaps, that you remember best?
– I remember plenty of historical events, and sometimes I am amazed at how many truly momentous events I have lived through. Some of the most consequential events, for me and my family, were Khrushchev’s stupid reforms, Gagarin’s flight into space, Brezhnev’s passion for awards, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the crazy 1990s and the hopeful 2000s.
– They say, “there is no such thing as a former intelligence officer.” Is there some unique flair, some subtle features of appearance or vocabulary that make a former colleague stand out to you in a most definitive way?
– A high level of intelligence (under Andropov, all operative officers were required to have two university degrees), calm self-confidence and attention to others and the situation.
– How did you end up a financier, a banker? Did the stars just align?
– In fact, the stars aligned for me in an amazing way all my life. I graduated from a school of construction engineering and somehow ended up serving in the KGB’s government communications troops as a conscript. After 23 years in state security, I found myself out of work in 1993. I went to work at a bank as an ordinary employee simply because I had some idea about banks due to my involvement in the investigation of a major fraud case in the 1990s (the so-called Filshing Securities Case).
– At a conference where you spoke as the head of a large financial institution, I remember you said that the cost of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing compliance measures was at that time 7 rubles per payment order. Today, would you describe the state of government control over financial operations in Russia and abroad as insufficient, reasonable, or excessive?
– Overall, the control over financial operations in Russia and the world is reasonable. However, some control measures mutually adopted by unfriendly countries in connection with various conflicts, especially in connection with the special military operation in Ukraine, are more than excessive.
– Are you satisfied with your children’s choice of profession?
– Our children had complete freedom in choosing a profession. Despite our wife’s and my own rather high competence in economics (we are senior managers of financial organizations with Ph.Ds in Economics), my daughters chose different career paths: the eldest is a linguist, the middle one is an economist, and the youngest is a designer.
– How were responsibilities distributed in your family: when raising children, what was the exclusive competence of the father?
– My wonderful wife Anna dealt with the overwhelming majority of issues related to family life, and the upbringing of our children. My competence was limited to providing opportunities for our children to receive a broad education and knowledge about the world.
– In recent years, you have been actively promoting the idea of renovating industrial enterprises in order to restore the potential of domestic industrial production. Are there any examples of the actual success of this strategy, specific achievements in its implementation?
– In the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with other entrepreneurs’ associations, we have been actively engaged in a federal project for the renovation of industrial enterprises built in the Soviet era for five years now. We work throughout Russia. Up to 20 projects are in the pipeline every year, including facilities of large corporations (MMK, Sinara, Rosatom, etc.).
– You have headed the Council for Financial, Industrial, and Investment Policy under the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for several years. How many experts does the council include now, what does it do, and what are the main lessons you have learned for yourself from working in this position?
– There are currently over 120 permanent expert members of the Council. Together with the participants of the Council’s expert commissions, there will be more than 300 people. The Council deals with a wide range of issues to ensure the effective use and development of the capabilities of all sectors of the financial market and government institutions in the interests of developing the economy and business. My main conclusion after eight years of working as the head of the Council is that only highly qualified experts can effectively solve the complex problems of regulating and developing the economy.
– Recently, you celebrated your seventieth birthday in a wide circle of your friends and colleagues. I saw how many warm words dozens of people told you. And what birthday wishes do you remember most?
– Of course, the most important and pleasant greeting came from President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Katyrin. We have known each other and have maintained good relations for over 20 years. I am sincerely grateful to everyone who came to my anniversary. These are people very dear to me, and I and my family members cherish our relationships with them very much.
– What is your secret to a happy family life?
– Love your wife and children, take care of them, and support them. They will reciprocate your feelings and actions.