Vam's first serious Business Development experience was at the USSR Chamber of Commerce and Industry where he was responsible for all inbound foreign business missions.

The political relaxation of détente triggered a sharp interest in establishing a presence in Russia on part of many foreign businesses, and the bulk of that activity was channelled through the Chamber. The main problem was complete ignorance on both sides.

For a western mind the existing state monopoly on foreign trade in the former USSR, depriving local producers and potential buyers of direct contact with their counterparts, was something inconceivable. Under that rule each and every deal was totally controlled by the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Trade and its Foreign Trade Organizations (FTOs). At the same time Russian industry managers knew very little about free market economy, to say nothing of how to deal with foreign entrepreneurs. In many cases just to match potential partners Vam had to do lots of "digging" into a business subject to be able to play the pivotal role and guide the parties in how to organise their business. It is simply impossible to count the number of partnerships triggered by Vam that subsequently resulted in contracts and joint ventures.  It was at this stage when Vam's constitutional bias towards analytical and creative work produced first  positive results.

Progress made in these first years paved a way to career growth and more responsible positions. With time, Vam became one of the leading Chamber's analysts and experts in foreign economic relations and a personal trusted aide to the President. At this stage, the new political environment called into being new priorities and the role of the Chamber in breaking isolation and bringing Russia back into the World Business Community increased substantially. For Vam it was a time of very intense work as these new realities had to be substantiated by developments in business life.

As a forerunner to change, the Chamber actively promoted relations with foreign business communities, sister organizations and international NGOs. Apart from qualifications and knowledge, this work required the highest degree of responsibility, and was done at the Chamber by a few selected "work horses", Vam being one of them. His major achievement at the time was laying the groundwork and building cooperation with one of the world's most important and influential business Organizations - the International Chamber of Commerce. 

Perestroika brought about conditions where Vam could bring all of his previously acquired experiences to such important tasks as the restoration of bilateral relations with countries previously closed to Russia. By this time his experience was equal to the task and Vam could only pride himself on bringing substantial personal input into forging relations with such countries as South Korea, Israel, Macau (China) and last but definitely not least - South Africa. 

All the experience Vam has gained in more than 30 years working with the international business communities has been "polished" during his extensive travel and work in over 20 countries.  This has given him unparalleled opportunity to observe and analyze the differences in business mentality and practices in different parts of the world, and was an invaluable addition to his cross-cultural knowledge and skills.

Currently Vam is using all of his experience and knowledge as a free lance Business Development practitioner, advisor and mentor, sharing it with all parties interested in doing business with Russia.