Biography of Dmitry Potapenko
Dmitry Valeryevich Potapenko is one of the most successful representatives of domestic retail, a senior partner of Management Development Group Inc, represented in the Russian Federation, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic, Belgium by more than a dozen retail chains, manufacturing enterprises and restaurants, including Gastronomchik, ProdECO, ” Mark”, “KhozMag”, “Parade of the Planets”, “Pizza Uno”, “ArtPrague”. According to experts, the annual turnover of his business has reached more than three hundred million dollars.
Entrepreneur Dmitry Potapenko
An entrepreneur with three higher educations, an MBA certificate and a DNV GL Group, he became famous for his sharp criticism of the country’s economic policy. After his spontaneous speech in December 2015 at an economic forum in the capital and a heated discussion with Vladimir Gutenev, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Industry, he gained a reputation as a person who knows how to tell the truth, regardless of positions and faces. However, a number of representatives of the business community are critical of him, calling him a multi-machine operator and a cross between the “great schemer” Ostap Bender and the owner of deceptive charm Ivan Khlestakov.
Childhood and family of Dmitry Potapenko
The future charismatic businessman was born on March 30, 1970 in Moscow and, according to him, became the son of two colonels of the Main Intelligence Directorate.
Dmitry Potapenko is an active and productive person
At school, he took part in public life with pleasure, was a Komsomol activist and a member of many circles. In particular, he was engaged in karate and even twice became a champion in this type of martial arts.
It should be noted that this fact, as well as some others, is questioned. His biography is often too reminiscent of an adventure novel. Retelling her in an interview, Dmitry noted that she surprised him with her richness and improbability of events.
In elementary school, he studied well, but, having matured, he allegedly lost motivation and cognitive interest in the process of gaining knowledge. Nevertheless, having received a secondary education, the young man entered a serious university – the Moscow Institute of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Automation.
Dmitry Potapenko has had an “entrepreneurial streak” since childhood
From the age of 19, he began to live separately from his parents and, as a student, managed to change a number of exotic professions – he worked as an orderly at the morgue and in a psychiatric hospital, led the closed gambling establishment of the criminal authority Otari Kvantrishvili, was the personal bodyguard of the oligarch Vitaly Malkin.
Career Dmitry Potapenko
He gained his first commercial experience as a teenager, reselling chewing gum to his peers. In his student years, he already sold various audio, video and computer equipment at Gorbushka, and in 1989 he founded Black Bars CJSC.
In 1992, in partnership with Natashkyang Korotia Systems, one of the first companies to import electronics to Russia, he brought to life his first project, the Tusar chain of electronics stores. In 1993, Dmitry defended his degree in engineering and since 1995, for five years, he worked in the Grundig company that appeared on the domestic market, first holding the position of a leading manager, and later – deputy president.
Dmitry Potapenko started trading on Gorbushka
In the period 1998-2001. the young man was the general director of a wood chipping materials plant in the Podrezkovo microdistrict, which controlled territorially 40 thousand hectares, and set up the production and export of competitive chipboard. At the same time, he held the post of Deputy Head for Investment Cooperation at CB Creditimpex Bank.
In 2001, Dmitry Valerievich became the deputy head of the Logos companies operating in the periodical distribution market, and also became the head of the Wholesale Centers society. In 2003-2005, after repeated invitations from Andrey Rogachev, one of the founders of Pyaterochka, he headed the St. Petersburg and Moscow offices of the trading network.
In 2005, the entrepreneur took one of the most important positions in the Management Development Group, which determines the overall business success – the managing partner. He carried out the development of retail networks, planning, organizing and stimulating work with an assessment of the result obtained and the definition of current trends.
Personal life of Dmitry Potapenko
A successful retail practitioner is married. His wife Elena worked as a lawyer for ten years, dealing with the bankruptcy of firms. In order to improve her professional competence, she also received an economic education, and after marriage, she also received a diploma in psychology, making her childhood dream come true. As a result, she became the general director of the MAXIMUM training center, which offers personal development programs that improve the quality and standard of living. In addition, she is the founder of the discussion club “Perevzglyad”.
Dmitry Potapenko with his wife Elena
The couple raised two daughters. The eldest of them, Maria Gracheva, according to her father, was the winner of almost all the country’s physical and mathematical Olympiads. After graduating from school, she was accepted to the physics department of Moscow State University without exams. To create comfortable starting conditions, her parents gave her an apartment. The youngest – Natasha Potapenko – studied at the Lyceum of Information Technologies.
The businessman leads a relatively modest lifestyle, loves spending free time with his family, loves his wife’s signature dish – duck, regularly visits the gym and says that he is prosaic about expensive things, although he has an impressive fleet of vehicles: SUV Gelandewagen, Lexus, Mitsubishi Pajero, Kia Rio , and Elena’s Nissan Juke crossover.
Dmitry Potapenko today
The main part of the business of the domestic consulting guru at the moment is grocery stores and cheap restaurants. He combines his main management functions with conducting master classes and consultations on effective management issues, hosts a number of author’s programs on the radio, and is a frequent guest on television.
In 2016, the businessman, who speaks openly about the problems of entrepreneurship in the country and is not afraid to call corruption the quintessence of power, and the annexation of Crimea – annexation, once again puzzled the public – he joined the leadership of the pro-government Party of Growth, became a member of the political council and 3rd in her list as a federal candidate for elections to the State Duma. True, he was not elected.