Alexander Katsuba briefly on the current family possessions, business career milestones, and future prospects.
The Katsuba family is known to own Alexander Katsuba’s major enterprises in the fields of FinTech (a project under MyCredit) and automotive (autocentre.ua and avtobazar.ua), but there’s more than that.
“We need to consider the wartime when we discuss these things. Because we cannot evaluate what will stay relevant for my family and me in terms of business after the victory. Right now, my mother is a dealer in the cement market.”
This business is carried out through a cement logistics center built on the basis of one of the plants.
“We also have an asphalt plant in Kharkiv and two plants for the production of reinforced concrete products. Then, there is also a small agriculture thing – several thousand hectares of land; quite a lot of real estate in Kharkiv, which is leased; and there also used to be a cement plant.”
Making his way into a complex business of gas
Back in the day, Kharkiv housed quite a lot of prominent businessmen and business families. And the Katsubas were far from the largest of them.
In 2003, at the age of 17, Alexander’s father brought him to the family’s central office and said: “Sit with economists for three months, then with lawyers. Learn.” Back then, Alexander was into renting. In 2009, the family bought the Kharkiv plant of electrical products, and the father said: “Here is a live business, go and figure it out.”
But Alexander didn’t stay there for long, moving in 2010 to the neighboring town of Poltava. That year, he was appointed deputy director of Poltavagazdobycha. A young entrepreneur was getting out of his comfort zone.
“I was 23, a typical representative of the youth of that time – the son of successful parents, I drove around Kharkiv in a good car, and everything was fine. My brother, then deputy head of the department at NJSC Naftogaz, said: “We have a quota in Poltava, if you want, try it, if you fail, it’s not my fault.”
Alexander decided to try. In Kharkiv, he was pretty bored with the familiar and well-established business.
“I thought that being a deputy director of a gas company in Poltava was cooler. But I was young, and it didn’t turn out to be as “cool” as I expected – I would not advise such work to either my children or friends.”
What does the future hold?
Alexander Katsuba is very firm about his vision of himself in the future – a businessman.
“I want to create something new, provide jobs, earn money, and pay taxes. For me, this is my favorite and most enjoyable activity. I don’t think I will ever return to some of the extremely responsibility-driven occupations that I had, like managing the gas business. But more startups and forward-looking projects are sure to come.”
So we are looking forward to new business ideas, commitments, and achievements.
Stay tuned for more Katsuba Files, more firsthand insights, and more updates coming soon.