Pavel Rudanovskiy the CEO of Verdi Global Consulting Group is a businessman based in Dubai. Pavel Rudanovskiy is is a person who had focused on a future in the field of art and cinema, but fate determined otherwise. After graduating from the Central Saint Martin’s College of Art in London, he received an offer to work with a number of prestigious private banks. These opportunities opened up access to a number of HNW and UHNW clients for Pavel. Having studied investment advisory, wealth management and customer service in some of the best financial institutions he put what he learnt to work to continue to help him today. In this interview, we are having a discussion with Pavel about the business experience he has gained from years of successful practice.
In the past year, what is the greatest business achievement you have achieved?
Pavel: Our greatest achievement is that we were able to attract more than 1 billion dollars of investment into the UAE market which we are very proud of.
You know that attracting that kind of money to an emerging region like the Middle East is a very difficult task that requires a lot of effort it does not happen overnight . Everyone knows that Dubai has become a centre for capital, investment and connections over the last few years. but when we started everything was much more challenging and most investors were clear that they preferred London, Hong Kong or Singapore above Dubai. We feel that we contributed to the growing success Dubai has had in attracting investors and capital that the whole world is has now noticed.
What advice do you wish you had received when you started your business journey and what do you intend to improve in 2024?
Pavel: I have always been willing to listen to people with experience, and of course this quality helped me see what others may have missed. Firstly, long before Dubai became the Dubai that everyone now knows, a good friend advised me to open a company even though I had no idea what I was going to do. it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Secondly obtaining residency and especially a golden visa was also extremely important since I was able to relocate and settle my family in the one of the safest places in the world. Finally, in order to be successful and be able to earn money in Dubai and the UAE you need to know as much as you can about the local culture and rules. in the Middle East, there are some major differences to the way we do business in the Western world as much is driven and decided through friendship and personal connections . This is a unique region that is has only begun to open itself up to the world in the past 25 years.
As for the second part of the question. In 2024 we are aiming to attract even more investment to the region. We want to significantly expand the portfolio of investment projects under Verdi Global Consulting Group with an initial target of at least 3 billion dollars.
An important part of the growth will be opening 10 more company representative offices in other countries. Just last week we opened a new office in Indonesia.
What does “success” in the year to come mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Pavel: Success for me consists of very simple indicators: happiness, security and financial well-being of me and my family. If we are talking about business in the name of our company then the word «global» gives a very important clue as it already sets the goal of repeating the success we have had in Dubai in other countries and becoming a truly global Company.
Can you share a time when your business faced a significant challenge? How did you navigate through it?
Pavel: One of the most difficult periods in the life of any company, ours is no exception, is the lack of initial capital in the company.
When you have no profits for months and months and I was working with clients who have billions of dollars to invest, it was probably the most difficult period I’ve had to go through. However even in this situation, I managed by moving employees from salaries to success percentages from successful deals, I moved office meetings to hotel lobbies, and instead of buying cars, I rented them.
How do you build a resilient team? What qualities do you look for in your team members?
Pavel: I have my own very specific vision regarding the team. We look closely at a potential candidate for a long time and always test them in battle first. We give them a chance to prove themselves even if they don’t close deals initially. As long as the candidate communicated correctly, reflected our company values, showed intelligence and organization then of course we will consider them. We feel as a business with a long track record we have a duty to share that experience and educate future employees.
What strategies do you use to manage stress and maintain focus during a crisis?
Pavel: You need to remember that in every crisis there is an opportunity. We are successful because that we have successful navigated several big crises and were able to benefit from them. As we are in a prosperous region it is has been easier for us to manage and take advantage of the opportunities created. To avoid suffering from the consequences of a crisis, we have learned the best strategy is to listen to other people. We are lucky to have excellent relationships with government officials in more than 30 countries around the world. We constantly analyze and monitor the situation so as not to let our clients down. For us, the clients’ interests always come before our own and we feel very strongly we simply have to do this.
