Interview of the director of KF "AVVA RUS" to "Business News"

"I Want to Make the Pharma Business Clean"

The pharmaceutical business should work to make people healthy, not to profit from others' misfortune. There is no other way. This is the belief of Olga Gordienko, Director of the Kirov Branch of JSC "AVVA RUS". In an interview with "BN" (Business News), she spoke about the industry's work, the mission of the Kirov company, its employees, and shared her most personal thoughts with the publication's correspondent...

"Lived for the Company for 20 Years"

Olga Sergeevna, how did you end up in pharmaceuticals?

To be honest, in school I never imagined my life would be connected to pharmaceuticals. Although being a doctor was fashionable back then, just like being a teacher. By chance, in my work, I combined these two directions. I became a teacher for the team, and a doctor – for the consumers of our products, because we make people healthy.

I was born in Kirov, but when I was seven, our family moved to Norilsk. There I got my education and worked for a long time. In 1996, our plant opened in Kirov, where 40 people worked at the time, including my mother, who held the position of chief accountant. I used to visit her during vacations, and we talked a lot about work, so I was living for this Kirov company all that time. In 2012, I came to work at "AVVA RUS", replacing my mother. And four years later, the owner offered me to head the enterprise. So, in May 2016, I became the director.

Did you agree immediately or did you think about it?

The decision was difficult to make. By that time, I had an economics degree and vast experience as a business manager, including managerial experience. When asked if I was ready to lead a pharmaceutical company, I honestly hesitated: could I – have an income related to people's health? A chain of thought immediately comes to mind: the more often people get sick, the more medicine they buy, and the higher the profit for pharmaceutical companies. Many evaluate our business exactly like that, and, I admit, I used to think the same way. Then I understood: there is more to the pharmaceutical business than just making a profit. It is, first and foremost, about helping people. I definitely want to produce high-quality products, guarantee that they work and help. And today I am completely confident in our drugs. My family uses them, I recommend them to friends. And I am not ashamed of either the origin of the medicines we produce or the team's attitude towards their production.

About the Enterprise

In a recent interview, the General Director of JSC "AVVA RUS", Alexey Egorov, told our newspaper's readers in detail about the main activities of the Kirov plant. Let's briefly recap.

The company was created as a private business in 1996 on the premises of the former "Biokhimzavod" (Biochemical Plant). This is no coincidence: we bought raw lignin from the plant, which in our case is a by-product of the hydrolytic technology for producing alcohols from wood raw materials. Using our own technology, we performed deep processing of the raw material, resulting in a pharmaceutical substance. Essentially, we were both disposing of waste from alcohol production and using raw lignin as a starting product for producing a pharmaceutical substance. We use the obtained substance in the production of original drugs, including "Laktofiltrum"® and "Filtrum"®. These drugs are widely known, although many Kirov residents don't even know they are produced in our city. This is essentially how the business started. Today our portfolio includes 46 drugs - for gastroenterology, for adults and children, cardiology, allergology, neurology, and infectious diseases. Half of them are on the list of Vital and Essential Drugs (VED). JSC "AVVA RUS" has been a participant in the state program "Pharma-2020", supervised by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, for several years. In my opinion, President Vladimir Putin set a very correct task – the country must move along the path of import substitution. In pharmaceuticals, there are certainly reasons for this: the foreign market has "eaten" us up. We lost the ability to produce anything, turned into a "buy-sell" country, losing years of accumulated experience. Today, there are practically no enterprises left in Russia producing pharmaceutical substances, and the drug market turns out to be imported. This situation needs to change, and we are actively participating in this. We have two buildings on our industrial site. In the near future, we plan to modernize one of them and launch production of a new drug from the VED list.

If I understand correctly, this is about the project for which you – the only one out of 14 regional companies that applied for support – managed to get a loan from the Industrial Development Fund?

Yes, it's about this project. We did apply to the Fund for a loan on preferential terms. We went through a very complex approval procedure. In December, the application was approved by the expert council. We are planning to organize full-cycle production of a new drug here, in Russia. This project is being implemented with the participation of a foreign partner; we are now finalizing the approval procedures with the foreigners. From my experience I can say: If you have a project, getting support from the Fund is quite realistic, prepare applications and send them to the Fund, the system works. Besides this project, we plan to expand our own production capacities using our own resources, including the production of drugs from the VED list and expanding our line of antibiotics.

The kind that act targeted?

Yes, not everyone knows that antibiotics have different properties. A broad-spectrum antibiotic indiscriminately suppresses the development of both pathogenic and beneficial microorganisms. As a result of such exposure, the microbiocenosis is disrupted. Beneficial gut flora suppresses the formation of toxic products of protein metabolism that have carcinogenic properties, reduces cholesterol and bilirubin levels, suppresses the growth of pathogenic bacteria, and is important in maintaining high immune defense of the body. After all, beneficial flora produces various products that our body uses in biosynthesis. As a result of the disruption of the microbiocenosis, beneficial flora can be replaced by conditionally pathogenic flora or the content of pathogenic flora can increase, beneficial microorganisms can disappear, which leads to various adverse events and harms our body.

We pay a lot of attention to this topic. We have a laboratory that deals with drugs, studies the effects of antibiotics, and the consequences of antibiotic therapy. It is no coincidence that our antibiotics have the prefix "ECO" in their names, which means environmentally friendly treatment. We aim to defeat the infection without harming the body as a whole. We even have a corresponding slogan: "Human Microecology is Our Profession."

You've been on the market for over 20 years. Why only now are you making yourselves known? In particular, you've met with the acting governor Igor Vasiliev twice in the last six months?

We had to make ourselves known. In 2015, the enterprise faced a number of problems related to energy supply. LLC "Kirovsky BKhZ" and a number of its affiliated companies (e.g., LLC "DION") unilaterally disconnected us from all energy sources – water, sewage, heat, electricity. The company's management decided to build local treatment facilities and start transporting wastewater to specialized organizations. We built a power line and installed a diesel boiler house. This year, with the participation and support of the regional government and personally Governor Igor Vladimirovich, we started using gas. We also hope, with the support of the regional authorities, to start building our own water supply and sewerage networks this year.

Responsible for People

Is it difficult for a woman to manage such a large enterprise?

It's not difficult for those who do nothing. I am a rather strict leader. Sometimes you have to make serious decisions, for which you bear a crazy burden of responsibility.

What are 406 people (the number of enterprise employees - note "BN")? These are 406 lives. These are people I am responsible for.

What do you value most in people?

The ability to build relationships, because all of life is communication. In school, we learn to build relationships. At university, we adjust our skills according to the knowledge gained. And when we come to work – we pass on the accumulated experience and continue to build relationships. I highly value honesty, decency, and determination in people. Also, love for life. Many see life in gloomy colors and live with such a mood. I was taught from childhood to live here and now, to think positively.

I am lucky: we have an excellent team. I know everyone by name. I know what problems they have at home and what joys, what difficulties in life and what victories. The company's management tries to support employees: we have a good system of collective agreement, material incentives, and various types of support are in place.

At the same time, you are widely engaged in charity?

Yes, we help children deprived of parental warmth. I grew up without a father myself and I know what it's like. The owner fully supports us in this direction. We help children from the Kirov Children's Home, orphanages, and boarding schools. They are the most vulnerable segments of the population, and they are our future!

All charity is financed from the company's profits. Employees are also actively involved in the process. Just today, I asked our top specialists to think about what we can do ahead of May 9th. Many ideas arose, which will definitely be implemented. Let me lift the veil a little: we plan to participate in the improvement of Victory Park. It's a very beautiful place, I often walk there with my daughters.

When we signed the "roadmap" at the meeting with the governor, among the charitable projects was a project for supplying our drugs to medical institutions in Kirov. The Ministry of Health met us halfway and helped with the selection of institutions and the list of products. Another interesting project of the "roadmap" is related to our Vyatka State University. The enterprise has a personnel problem related to the development of the pharmaceutical industry in the region. We lack narrow specialists – chemists, analysts, chromatographers, technologists, laboratory assistants – specialties that the university teaches. Besides, young professionals need to be interested in staying in the region. It's a pity when experienced, strong specialists leave for higher-paying regions. This needs to be changed, at least in pharmaceuticals.

Balance is Important

Legislative control over the pharma market is tightening. What is your personal opinion, for example, on marking drugs with a special protective code, which is planned to be made mandatory for all manufacturers starting next year?

We, pharma manufacturers, raised this issue at the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the end of 2016. We decided, with the support of the regional government, to appeal to federal authorities with a request to postpone mandatory marking until at least 2020. This initiative has both positive and negative aspects. Let me start with the bad. We, the manufacturers, most likely will not have time to retrofit production with special equipment on time. This is not a quick process: it requires modernization of production lines, serious investment. This may affect the final cost of the product. Now for the good. The initiative is certainly correct. As a manufacturer, it benefits me: I am interested in ensuring that our consumers receive drugs manufactured by us, not counterfeits, under the guise of our products. As a consumer, I will be sure that I bought exactly the product stated on the packaging. The innovation proposed by the Russian Ministry of Health is correct. But it just needs to be done right: calculate all the risks, possible difficulties, provide for nuances, and definitely not plunge the pharma market into a situation where a number of drugs cease to be produced, and pharmacy networks begin to experience their shortage. Under the current conditions, there is a high probability that Russian manufacturers will stop producing low-margin products. It will be unprofitable. And it is these drugs that are in demand among the most vulnerable segments of the population. The fact that they are cheap does not mean they are bad. I believe that such an initiative must be approached very carefully to maintain a balance between the consumer and the producer.

I am a Happy Woman

You smile openly and often. Are your children just as positive?

My children are very good. The Lord blessed me with three children: my son is now 22, my daughters are 14 and 6 years old. It so happened in life that I am raising them alone. Of course, I give them all my warmth. They are really very good. My son Konstantin is an honest and decent person who respects his elders. It's in his blood. I am not ashamed of my middle daughter. Nastya is not just a daughter, she is my most reliable, kind, and loyal friend. My youngest daughter Darina (we sometimes call her Kuzya at home, like the brownie) is a huge sea of positive energy. When I talk to teachers and educators or see how my children communicate in a group, it makes me happy. Believe me, I am a very happy woman! Not many are blessed with three children, especially with an eight-year age difference. Throughout each of these periods, I remained a young mother. Not many get to become a grandmother at such a young age, but I already have a grandson. And I am very glad that my son took the right path: proposed to his chosen one, got married, took responsibility for family life and for the woman who became his life partner and the mother of his son and my grandson.

Your employees secretly told me that your working day can last 12 or even 15 hours. How do you manage to find time for yourself and your children with such a schedule?

My children are understanding of my work. They highly appreciate what I do. They see how difficult it can be for me sometimes. They patiently wait for me in the evening, can cook dinner, clean up, to see my delight at the order in the house, which I love very much. The girls are ready to tell me about their successes in a rush. But they share failures less often, I think they just don't want to upset me unnecessarily. I understand that I now give them less time. I hope that when I establish absolute rules at the plant, set up the work, when the team and I are breathing in unison, I will devote more time to my family and myself.

DOSSIER

Gordienko Olga Sergeevna, Director of the Kirov Branch of JSC "AVVA RUS".
Born June 29, 1975, in Kirov.
Education: higher education. In 2006, she graduated from the St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation with a degree in "Finance and Credit".

Career:

1993 – 1994: Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant named after A.P. Zavenyagin, accountant.
1996 – 2011: PJSC "Norilsk Nickel Mining and Metallurgical Company", accountant, including in managerial positions.
2012 – 2016: Kirov Branch of JSC "AVVA RUS", Chief Accountant.
From May 2016 to present – Kirov Branch of JSC "AVVA RUS", Director.