hello and welcome to our team these are your top stories you paymasters are to decide whether greece should get more time to sort out its bailout reforms fall while in germany chancellor merkel allies say athens leaving the euro would be no big deal. u.s. special troops are on standby to go into syria following president obama's warning all the rising intervention if there are signs damascus is moving its chemical. and despite america's countdown to a pullout from afghanistan there are warnings that washington's fueling insurgency following a deadly wave of the insider attacks against western troops up next our team means the russian who's working at the top and the world's biggest retailer.

hello again oh welcome to. our team. costs american papers recently. opened a store in moscow but the news was not about moscow russia but about another city. in the us except what is true is that wal-mart really spent two years trying to enter the russian market before its managers finally gave up wal-mart's first

attempt to conquer russia failed they decided to leave but they took with. the former russia's largest retailer and it's for the first time that it. has been a multi national cup so why did wal-mart choose it for that you were asking the new wal-mart senior vice president and chief leverage to. lift process is one of the most successful and best known managers in russia has worked in the retail business for about twenty years and used to hand russia's largest retailer before leaving for america when wal-mart tried to enter the russian market kompany was among its most possible. the attempt was unsuccessful but shortly after closing its moscow office wal-mart offered a top manager position in its international operations division and offer classes just couldn't refute that.

hello mr curtis welcome to the show thank you thank you very much i welcome to moscow by the way you're not a frequent guest though in this city yeah. for five minutes. what was the motives while we talk about the intrigue later bet well i just said that you got that proposal you admitted it and went to the states what was the motive for you to see yes to bali you know it's an amazing experience because what is not just the largest company in the world it's from my point of view the company all sort of for great purpose it's the largest company in the world i mean among all companies existing in the world you're exactly right. it's interesting that. much is not the company but the country will be a nineteenth largest economy in the world so this is bigger than whatever coca-cola

. bowing before according to their revenue much bigger than anybody else and for profit for example people. easier to understand the scale of the company their budget of the company for this year is about ten or fifteen percent larger than the budget for fresh integration because there is a motive to go to for a fight and sheer amount imperato work for the radio but and really the main idea was true. during the company who sort of for great purpose was saving people money so they could live better it's really. the topic which motivate a lot of managers or former to work with listen and your position that you're the senior vice president just so he so you're among among five among ten among fifteen top managers i'm reporting. who is the c.e.o.

or president of the moment international. reporting control might do coups this see you all. so so so so you know you're the third in the chain of command and you're among like i'll turn were among fifty top managers of you say. it's very hard to criticize it's only a company you're going to finish two point two million associates around the world so largest private employer in the world listen. six months ago when you were still working in russia do you see this job was there any intrigue behind this nomination or he just came out of the blue just a crisis coworkers you know i was invited by my group who is this your four months and he asked me left what if we invite you to join us and why not. it's not friends at work. business partners of business partners or friends or you knew each other with media we. had. opportunities to meet each other

about five years ago so all we know each other and. he knows me so he just thought that you're right for the job yeah listen what's your top priority and warmer as as one of the top managers does the company change is this why they invited you all they want to preserve it. company is changing quickly because the world has changed quickly and my top priority of this year is to develop our business in countries like brazil china to develop our relationship with global suppliers it's also my responsibility and we have always about ninety thousand suppliers and with one hundred of them we have about fifty percent of our business and i guess our partnership with such company can be much better than it

is today. you never spent. lots time abroad i mean me you you mostly lived in your own country now five months in bentonville arkansas is like different there from life in moscow completely different especially if. it's much different because here in moscow usually i spent about five to six hours a day in traffic jams and then bentonville five minutes from home i can use a bicycle. so that it's completely different environment and it's a very good place to work and i'm very busy saw. it's a convenient place we've made a low cost of life we've practically every think you need for your life. you're listening to people like you. cure about the cost of life. i mean. you know company like wal-mart is successful because thinking about cost very

much cost saving korea because trying to save people money so they can live better their main. tool for this to control our cost and that it should be on the d.n.a. it's should be part of your junaid should be something like you're thinking about it on the work well you shouldn't have this in your d.n.a. because because you're russian russians are different in this lesson by the way russians are very in the style gee christian people they they get homesick very very soon when they go abroad well it is a fact with me most of my friends but but you know different for sure have missed my friends ok i haven't but you need to talk with him by skype by forn but for sure i have missed a lot of them. now i am for a couple of days in moscow or so i had a great opportunity to. meet seoul very much excited to see him again you

are rich i mean you are rich to extend when you can change your environment and make it well comfortable for yourself wherever your you can grab a bicycle i mean let's say these whatever well whatever you like but. is it is there still a big difference. for a businessman of your scale living here or living in arkansas. ok you mentioned i can buy most of this. ok i bought a national archives i can tell you that same car in moscow two times more expensive i don't know what is the reason for this but it's a reality check and probably the tax tax on i think also the strategy of big brands to sell products in russia most fans of them and some are in marcus saw. structural fewer expenses completely different icons are then in moscow for sure. the way a supermarket functions in moscow and in the united states in russia

in the states is a completely different or is it more or less the same i mean if it is your business familiar or you have to learn and. create new things the business itself is the same and we're selling. merchandise we're selling food and the way how we're doing because for sure different and the warm winter is very famous for their everyday low cost and everyday low price strategy and as far as a non off russian retailer she was the strategy is it really is a true you know level of sales and discounts and warm we have some time. there not like there are so low that you know it's not a legend to that we have something but it's not short term sales actions like stores of our competitors just a couple of weeks of one day we're just normal to have something very with very low

price but that's only for a couple of hours. medium long for rollbacks problems ninety days and it's completely different still more cost approach and provide sole customers great experience to buy merchandise with extremely low prices your ex five retail group it posted its first drop in sales since its creation two thousand and six this year are you connecting it with your departure from from the company. i think a lot of different factors and. probably. not just mind but show a lot of the members of the company now working in other companies but sometimes i think it's far from. built for ever was built for and i guess within the next few quarters company will deliver a monumental wealth but you do no secret i mean if you yourself admit that your departure from the company really cost that because didn't you know since the

moment the.

headline. magine assets that the phone watches you know every single mom. and waiting for you to stumble. i saw a man with a video camera so i moved over and he followed me so most of you know we realized there were following everyone early in the morning. the only chance to get rid of him. is to reveal him. to. me devil operation on r g.

two the. life's always better down where it's wetter so get on board and check out world class cutters as they get a lightweight super strong make over all of giant floating glass prepares to chart the tundra explored aids to look at arctica and find a novel way to make waves with a brand new entity a supposed whatever your destination hitch a ride to tomorrow's water world today. welcome

back to spotlight i'm out of and just a reminder that my guest on the show today is live houses senior vice president at war. mr curtis we started talking about the difference making business and russia making business in the united states well you said that knowing it better than i and i do and this is only natural you see russian business is changing and really becoming more like what you can witness elsewhere in the world is that true is that does that mean that that russia is catching up or quickly because it's only been twenty years of experience for guys like you and you already catching up first of all even less than ten years ago and the progress again is amazing incredible you have a lot of public companies in the retail industry in russia. credit in the london

stock exchange your russian stock exchanges the company is. learning how to make business where way we transparency of accounting we more focused on the interest of customers and again it's a huge gap of russian retail and what you can find in very well developed countries but this distance is. decreasing where your regular. well we have already mentioned that retail in russia is living through hard times in europe too. what about america you said you or. your benefits are rising i mean walmart but. the overall situation with retail what is it in the states. is it problematic or first of all we can see probably in the future some. technical changes with development of e-commerce and i

suppose starting in. a few years ago or just a few of now we can see in a couple of years or probably in ten years completely different environment completely different landscape of retail based on commerce technologists and wal-mart is. getting things through the net but people are going to do that. first of all you don't need to have many cases physical stores because you have access to millions of a scale on the waltons that's from your smartphone and the question who is better service provider for you giving you better. quality of products but if you're doing the transportation or do you have to build so you will not be building a retail instead you'll be building and time new system of transportation interested and logistical you know just excited i mean a little bigger because you can have millions of small small little cars were

rushing all around the town i mean this will be a nightmare absolutely and. same time the excess of customer information the transpersonal price and it's changing very quickly and now customers are not exactly any customer knows exactly what is the price for this product in different stores and can choose the store with the best price for the same product when we started this interview you started by saying wal-mart is the largest company in the world but i i doubt that more than ten percent of russian russians would even know this name in the world well do they know millions of brands they would know the not this one this is because wal-mart has never really been in russia they could only see it in american movies you try to be not you would be for you why. tried to enter the russian market but it was a flop why why didn't it happen i think it wasn't right it was the wrong time it was like look through three five years ago yeah but it's interesting that in

a museum or for some author mental you can find memoirs signed by sam walton their international priorities and number one priority as he mentioned was russia and india and china was laure one day i am absolutely sure what should be in russia but i don't think it will be in the short term perspective like one or two years will you do a priority you mean south. left a member never never trying to get that or don't do that again was this memo about their priorities where company should be probably russia is not just what just in europe comes from market but also potentially important place to source product so i suppose we should be able rate and units of to source products from russia both non-food and food which you can sell it around the world in our

stores well let's take a look at what exactly makes russia's retail industry so special and reported by spotlights unionism in the. capital as we came to russia bringing two shelves hyperinflation wage duis and of a gun to standing a what to do by the us open borders and in one nine hundred ninety two presidential decree on freedom of trade suggested one of possible solutions to survive teachers and doctors plumbers and miners people of all walks of life turn to commerce they themselves had to discover the basics of market economy they had never been taught then came the privatization state and of prizes including shops were mostly bought out by their own management. and things were easier for those who at the time got a piece of the nature of resources pie but to wash up hohner success wasn't granted competition was high and one had to think of but

a logistics and sound strategy is to gain profit and just when the russian fledgling retail industry began showing steady growth the country's default of nine hundred ninety eight game is a blow one positive thing about it was it just won't be coming up big international players to the russian market and give time for the country's own retailers to grow stronger the basically had to bridge a huge gap in the u.s. the old wal-mart started in the ninety six days well in russia similar hypermarkets started new a half a century later in two thousand and six russia's retail industry witnessed a merger of two jaimee chains to form the biggest player on the market up until now x. five retail by two thousand and eight russia's retail industry got strong enough to withstand the global economic downturn and although some big foreign players like

on natural have been steadily expanding in russia the country's all we day lows account for a lie just segment of the market and that's set to hold ground. you said that you have tried to turn tell me a. war or try to turn to russian market it was the wrong time but all shot they were just been i care pretty pretty successful there actually they were it i mean and whole russian life not only on the market why why what the more successful but was the difference first of all a shot and i care interest for the market about ten twelve years ago we have a new. market was completely straight and listen you twitted recently that practically all you. colleagues would like to work in rush is that true is that what they tell you absolutely why do they explain that they would be good at it because they like it because they like caviar and i mean because it means that

market. prices the retail prices in this market huge. wal-mart can't dramatically improve the level of quality of life of russian people that their different same products same mission is cheaper and to serve our show so so he was so so your american colleagues want to come here with more on wal-mart absolutely not buy their own i see is that they want to produce us out there that they're dreaming to be one day here with the whole war much opportunities to make business as a matter of fact you mentioned that you live in or. that that is office arkansas in many most of the companies around there are facilities dealing with international sales there but in europe i mean america but most of what why don't you have a huge office in your view you could i mean live and work there it will be easier

first of all we're trying to be very efficient and we don't like huge officer troll here for office responsible for canada europe and africa. based in london and its people. counts only five percent. only five persons responsible for running the business in all the surgery just because in the stuff any bureaucrats cost money our customers should pay for this and would not like it especially bureaucrats like you make us a lot of money last question i have roads in the news that the russian companies are good trading national is planning to open a chain of supermarkets in the united states when you think about it i think it's very. challenge they're trying to show you the madness over it but. i don't think it's serious same time if it's serious. it will be very

hard for them to have a really great success but same time nor in their specific person who is behind all this they potentially can be successful you think potentially the potential of there is a chance to be successful in this project well and knowing that i know what this shows is to try to get you to work for them in the states thank you thank you that was that was left classy senior vice president at wal-mart and that's open now from all of us here if you want to add your sense father might have someone in mind to think i should me next time you drop me a line of calgary not adam harvey t.v. dad are you on let's see the challenger act we will be back with more until that day on our team and take. them to.

mission free. education free in-store charge of three. major and three. free. free. download free broadcasts live video for your media project a free media r.t. dot com.