From its own resource base, Magnezit Group has been providing quality refractories and innovative solutions to an international market for more than a century. The CEO Magazine spoke to CEO Sergei Odegov about how he works closely with managing director for Europe Dmitri Borzov in the daily running of Magnezit Group, the challenges the business has faced, and its period of growth in the 2000s.
The CEO Magazine: What is your professional background leading up to and including your current role with Magnezit Group?
Sergei: I was born in Satka in the Chelyabinsk region, Southern Urals, the very city where in 1901 the first commercial production of magnesia refractories in Russia was started in the Magnezit plant. The Satka production site is still the largest industrial site of Magnezit Group, which employs more than 6,000 people almost 20 per cent of Satka’s adult population. I have been working for Magnezit Group for more than 25 years.
I started in different positions at the Satka production site and then, from 2001 to 2005, I headed the representative office of the group’s trade house in Moscow and was responsible for the international development of the company. My experience, both in the production sphere and as a trader, helped me to take the Magnezit Groups CEO chair in 2005.