Business-school graduates are not just committed and talented leaders, they are top managers of Russian and international companies, they own their own businesses and they are government employees and philanthropists. One of the SBIP’s «International Oil and Gas Business» graduates (2010-2012) T.H.Bidgiev shared with us his experience from his years of studying at the School of Business and his accomplishments after receiving his MBA degree.

Timur Huseinovich, what made you choose MGIMO School of Business?

In today’s age of globalization of the world economies multinational corporations are making a lot of effort spreading their influence on domestic markets. This trend motivates you to learn international experience and how you can incorporate it into today’s Russian reality in order to improve the competitive performance of our national economy. I think a university that focuses on foreign relationships can offer the most favorable programmes that meet the challenge facing businesses and the economy as a whole.

How long did it take you to make a decision when you were choosing a programme?

I made my choice based on the existing work experience and further career prospects.

Was it difficult for you to enroll to this programme?

A quote that came to mind was the one by our great combat leader A.Suvorov: «A hard drill makes an easy battle». One thing I can say for sure, anything is possible. Knowledge and experience you get at this programme make up for the difficulties in studying.

Were you a manager or business owner at the moment of enrollment?

Yes, at the time of enrollment I was a manager at a managing company. We focused on financial investments including derivative financial instruments for oil.

Talk about your career progress after completing the training at MGIMO Business School.

It has to be said that the whole course was very interesting and insightful not only in the context of knowledge acquisition but also with regards to your surroundings. Over the course of training, I met my future business partners and by the time we completed the course together we started our own business.

Did you ever do the math on how long did it take for this studying investment to pay off?

I never really did the math, but I can tell you that my investments paid off over the course of training at the Business School.

Did you learn something from other students?

Our group was comprised of 26 students, among whom were managers, business owners, state employees. The process of experience sharing went from top to bottom and from side to side so to speak.

Did you like your group?

Everyone had his own interests and represented his own unique personality, so I received knowledge and experience not only from the teaching staff, but from my colleagues as well.

Over the course of training, did you come across or get to know with some interesting and successful individuals, who were able to make a great impression on you?

Pretty much all of our teachers and speakers were experts in their field and possessed practical experience. I believe if you join a programme like that it’s prudent to aim at acquiring knowledge and experience and have an attitude of learning at any opportunity.

Were you able to expand your circle of friends and business-partners after you graduated from this MBA Programme?

I can refer to our entire group as my new friends. There I met some of my new business-partners. It's been five years since my graduation but we keep in touch and often have meetings.

Do you maintain contact with the Business School?

Both parties are responsible for keeping in touch and in our case both parties have a mutual interest in maintaining contact as our as this mutually beneficial cooperation, which began at the time of studying goes on to this day.

What would you say to the Business School and its students?

Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times. The idea of this expression is that you must never give up and you must never let your guard down. I wish to everyone to always move forward and never stop!