Vladimir Potanin: "Being an idealist, I still dream of happiness for everyone"

Ivan Petrovsky

In this sense, the one and a half hour conversation of the head of Interros, Vladimir Potanin, on the Spas TV channel is an exception.

It is possible that the specificity of the Orthodox TV channel, on which the appeal to spiritual and eternal values does not look strained, attracted Potanin. The interview is very curious and very unexpected. Few people dare to talk with our oligarchs not about business, not about the economy, not about politics, in the end, but about the meaning of life, about deep personal processes, about the awareness of one's own "I" in this world. Vladimir Legoyda tried withdraw Vladimir Potanin a conversation about what no one ever tries to talk to people like Potanin. Somehow, a priori, it is believed that they are not talking about it. And suddenly we saw a completely different Potanin. Thinking, doubting, believing and believing. Not perfect. But alive. And I want to believe - the present.

The semantic level of the interview was set already in the opening, where from the first words it becomes clear that the guest of the studio is "a person who dreams of happiness for himself, for loved ones, and for everyone". And Potanin sees the meaning of his life in achieving this dream.

Such a high bar naturally implies faith and mission. Belief that your activity (not necessarily in business, but in any other area) is obliged to benefit people, and "the wider the circle of people whom a businessman will take care of, the better."

Yes, this interpretation is at odds with the stereotype that the main goal of a business is to generate income, and nothing else. And Potanin does not at all condemn the supporters of "pure" entrepreneurship. Moreover, in his youth, at the end of the 80s and in the 90s, he himself... "thought only about how to ensure the prosperity of his family".

However, over time, the world has changed. Today, a good businessman is not someone who only creates jobs and pays taxes; he already needs to bear what is now fashionable to call social responsibility. And this category refers to issues of faith, mission and meaning of life.

The truth of this is easily tested on children, Potanin said.

I even have such a criterion with children, when they ask me something: "what, dad, are you doing there?" and so on, I just caught myself thinking that if you can explain to them what you are doing, then you are doing something normal, if you cannot explain to them, then this is something that people are not it is necessary, not interesting and you will not find sympathy here.

But if you think about the social benefits of business, then you internally refuse to consider all the accumulated benefits and resources only as your personal property. And number 1 of the Russian Forbes list unexpectedly speaks directly about this in an interview: “In general, listen, a person lives as long as he is allotted, this is a moment in the history of mankind, in the history of the planet, the world, and therefore in this life a person must believe that in it makes some sense. It seems that, in general, everything that we live with and that we are trying to acquire is in a sense given to us and to treat it as our property, not in legal, but in moral and psychological terms, it seems to me that this is a dead end. This has been given to us so that we can dispose of it correctly, and I am trying to find how to dispose of it correctly ”.

Potanin is known not only as the head of Norilsk Nickel, but also as a philanthropist and founder of his own charitable foundation. He really helps a lot, but does not really cover this topic in interviews. After all, in his opinion, this is “ just a gesture of a normal person - to give, share and ennoble the environment around him”, because “to whom much is given, therefore there is a great demand”.

But still - how can a modern businessman "correctly" dispose of his resources? The so-called "helicopter money" - if you just distribute it to those in need, the situation will not change. To endlessly drive up wages, reducing production efficiency is also a dead end. Potanin sees the following recipe for himself:

“To make people, as it is now fashionable to say, beneficiaries, that is, so that they can benefit from the work of the entire enterprise. And we started this with the fact that we began to allocate big and big money for social programs, for education, for the reconstruction of housing, for the resettlement of people to the mainland, and so on. But it seems that this is not enough, so for me now there is a big dilemma, how if I really declare that it worries me, if I really am a person who would like to turn my face to my employees, to ordinary people, then what can I do for this to do?"

"And now my thought goes in the direction that it is necessary to make them also part of the recipients of the success of the enterprise. How to do this, this, as they say, is already a technique, I will probably find such a way, just this thought, it is now most relevant to me and it excites me most of all, from the point of view of my inner perception",- says Potanin.

Potanin's reaction to the host's question about the sensational accident in Norilsk is interesting. "Any normal person, when this happens to him, even if he did not turn on the tap himself and shed, of course, a feeling of guilt," Potanin says. nature, well, I poured it out in front of people, because it is inconvenient, on the other hand, anger at the fact that people are not doing what they have to do ... "

And they didn't just talk about threats! Over the past five years, Norilsk Nickel has invested one hundred billion rubles on industrial safety.

"And now there is anger at why people do not hear, why do they admit, why is negligence here, why is negligence here? Then such reflection begins that they do not listen to you, maybe, maybe you are simply not suitable for this work But I try to drive these thoughts away, because this is just a weakness, because if not you, then who? That means you have to do it".

By the way, the flurry of criticism against the businessman does not discourage him, but only whips up his determination to fix all the “jambs” himself: “I still feel myself as a person who can do something else, from which there may still be some benefit, so I I try not to pay attention to such unconstructive criticism, but to move forward and I forgive these unconstructive critics their spiteful impulse".

So, let's summarize: what kind of Vladimir Potanin we see from watching the interview.

First, they saw and listened to a man and a businessman who does not care about public opinion at all. On the contrary, Potanin wants to show himself as a part of society, country and people. In contrast to "fellow billionaires", some of whom nodded in their palaces, hundred-meter yachts and private planes.

Secondly, Potanin is not trying to absolve himself of responsibility for past mistakes and failures - both in family life and in business. Moreover, in interviews you can see many examples of how critical a businessman is of himself, and how deeply he rethinks his own life.

Finally, Potanin knows the real value of wealth, power and his own capabilities. No material goods that are used only and exclusively for personal purposes will not give the desired happiness and peace of mind.

And no matter how critical we are at times to business, such a rethinking and an attempt to take a step towards society is clearly a good symptom.