Right in the middle of his Macau Odyssey, one fine day Vam was summoned by the Chamber's first Vice President who said  “the Foreign Affairs Minister Shevardnadze wants our delegate to join his economics aide Shokhin in a mission to Mozambique and since you speak Portuguese you must go”. The tone of the message did not suppose any objections. His role in this mission was somewhat of a representative nature which Vam was not entirely happy with and when he pondered over what he could do to make it another pioneering experience the answer popped into his mind almost instantly - South Africa !

In those days a mere handshake with a South African could easily cost a Soviet official his entire career so Vam had to secure a very special mandate and his plan worked out nicely. In between meetings with Finance Minister Asman, he made time for a quick visit to Maputo Fair. There, he went straight to the South African pavilion and requested to see the most senior representatives. He was told that Mr. Glenn Babb and Mr. David Lobscher were going around the show and would be back shortly. Vam left his business card and an invitation to visit the Soviet pavilion. Later he got to know that Mr.Glenn Babb was a prominent South African personality and an MP while Mr. David Loubscher, being officially SA Trade Commissioner, was the de-facto Ambassador to Mozambique. The reaction was prompt and the three of them quickly went into an informal meeting with some nice Russian tea. It took them less than half an hour to reach a consensus and arrive at a conclusion that it was about time to start moving in the direction of setting up bilateral business cooperation. For Vam it clearly meant the start of a completely new "Odyssey"...

Doing his analytical research on South Africa Vam was amazed on how big was the potential for business cooperation between the two countries especially in the mining sector, since both of them had developed into mining superpowers in conditions of political and economic isolationism. His first fact finding trip to South Africa confirmed this and revealed readiness of the local sister organizations to join hands with the Russian Chamber in reviving bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

All this was confirmed during the visit of top South African business leaders to Russia in 1991 which Vam remembers as having something of a story. The problem was that the potential visit of Comrade Nelson Mandela had long been on the agenda of the Soviet Politburo and the visit of a group of South African “big capitalists” prior to that could provoke some problems. Vam couldn’t reveal this to his SA counterparts who in their plans entirely depended only on him and his endeavors in the corridors of Russian Power. So they could only wait for the outcome while Vam was maneuvering between the different camps of supporters and opponents of the visit. After a saga worthy of a separate story, the green light from the highest Soviet authorities was finally obtained and the historic visit became a reality. The very first meetings at the Chamber of Commerce showed great interest for business cooperation on both sides and an invitation for a reciprocal visit to South Africa was extended to a delegation of the Russian Chamber.

To organize this visit Vam went to South Africa well before arrival of the delegation. Together with his colleagues at South African Foreign Trade Organization (SAFTO) and SA Chamber of Business (SACOB) they spent long hours preparing the visit to make it a success. And they did it right as that mission of the USSR Chanber of Commerce was not just a success, it was simply a triumph resulting in signing five agreements with major business organizations: South African Chamber of Business (SACOB), National African Federated Chambers of Commerce (NAFCOC), Afrikaanse HandelsInstituut (AHI), Chamber of Mines and South African Foreign Trade Organisation (SAFTO). In making this possible special thanks from Vam go to SAFTO's Mike Veysie and David Graham as well as to SACOB’s Ron Haywood.

The above exchanges and agreements laid the foundation for further practical steps in expanding economic cooperation between Russia and South Africa and Vam commenced preparation for launching a Branch of the Russian Chamber of Commerce in Johannesburg. And when finally the positive decision was taken there was no other candidate to run the Branch in South Africa but him.

Launching the Russian Chamber in South Africa was very opportune. The reforms in Russia allowed new far-reaching initiatives and most importantly gave a free hand to Russian enterprises to deal directly with their foreign partners. At the same time the wind of democratic transformation ending the era of apartheid was in the air in South Africa scraping all the existing barriers for new business cooperation. The emerging potential was really breathtaking and the importance of setting up the Russian Chamber of Commerce in Johannesburg at that time could hardly be overestimated.

The fact that the state monopoly for foreign trade in Russia was scrapped, and a traditional Trade Commission could not be formed in South Africa, added a high degree of responsibility to the Chamber's Branch in representing Russian business interests in the region. In view of this Vam did his best to combine routine activities with efforts to secure an adequate infrastructure for the Chamber. At this time he managed to acquire one of the best properties in Johannesburg taking advantage of the financial Rand mechanism, thus saving the Chamber a fortune. The rezoning of the property took another year and lots of struggling but finally everything was done and the Russian Chamber of Commerce in South Africa was up and running.

Vam was in charge of the Russian Chamber in Joburg for two years only. During this time he established contacts with numerous local businesses and personalities rendered assistance to many Russian and South African entrepreneurs willing to identify new business opportunities.

One of the most important events organized by Vam at that time was the first Russia – South Africa Mining Forum in Moscow (June 1992). The seminars in Moscow were attended by top mining expets of  both countries and they revealed huge potential for scientific, technological and business cooperation. After the seminars Vam organized for all South African delegates special trips to major Russian mining areas: Norilsk, Kola Peninsular and Lebedinsky Mine which brought the industry decision makers together and most probably triggered the interest to those serious bilateral South African – Russian business ventures that we are witnessing today. For some South African delegates that historic trip to Russia became such a memorable experience that they started to mark it by annual gatherings.

The Russian Chamber’s future in South Africa was very bright and the prospects for business development work were excellent but Vam didn't have enough time to bring all his plans to fruition as in 1994 his term of office expired.

After retiring Vam was still so enthusiastic about business development opportunities between Russia and South Africa that he took the decision to stay on in the country as a freelance consultant and a business development practitioner and went through another cycle of challenges and life experiences that further tempered his professionalism and vision, which could well be another separate story. All in all Vam stayed in South Africa for more than eight years and the experience he went through there allow him to consider himself a semi - South African or in other words a foreigner for whom, over time, South Africa became as close as his own home land...

All those interested in South Africa are most welcome to contact Vam directly by e-mail: vam4u@ya.ru