CBE: Please remind us how and why you got into the health club business.
Irina Razumova: After living in Sweden for many years, in 1989, I started a joint Soviet-Swedish venture in fitness. In 1990, we opened the first club under the World Class trademark in Leningrad, now St Petersburg. We opened three more clubs in Leningrad, and in 1993, the first in Moscow. I ran these clubs until 1997 when they were sold. It was a challenging time. The fitness industry was new. We could not trade in any foreign currency, and the purchase of equipment or any other imported goods was allowed only through government-owned foreign trade organisations, which was a complicated process. As a result, I spent much of my time acquiring what we needed for our clubs.
Irina Razumova: After living in Sweden for many years, in 1989, I started a joint Soviet-Swedish venture in fitness. In 1990, we opened the first club under the World Class trademark in Leningrad, now St Petersburg. We opened three more clubs in Leningrad, and in 1993, the first in Moscow. I ran these clubs until 1997 when they were sold. It was a challenging time. The fitness industry was new. We could not trade in any foreign currency, and the purchase of equipment or any other imported goods was allowed only through government-owned foreign trade organisations, which was a complicated process. As a result, I spent much of my time acquiring what we needed for our clubs.
