Denis Chernykh, YBR participant (left) with his business partner Alexander Matyukhov, with the piece of their work

Initially, wood carving was a hobby for Denis, it brought him emotional satisfaction rather than financial benefits. In January 2010 Denis registered his business as a sole proprietorship. Having joined the Programme in March 2010, he obtained financial support, consultancy, training, and could buy the production equipment needed. As a result, he increased his output and turned his hobby into a good business. However, according to Denis, he could not have achieved this without the excellent mentoring provided by the Programme. Without mentoring he and his partner would not have been able to gain such explosive success. Currently, Denis and Alexander have managed to close profitable agreements with major furniture manufacturers and construction firms who have commissioned wooden decorative components.YURY SEGAL, MENTORYury is the owner of 25 footwear shops in Voronezh, two retail firms, and he also provides consulting services. He has a Doctorate in electrical engineering. He mentors three groups of entrepreneurs (wood carving, foreign languages teaching, waste recycling).As we present this Dragon to you, we remember the old Chinese adage:If you forget the Dragon, hell eat you.If you fight the Dragon, hell beat you.But if you ride the Dragon, you will take on his strength and power!The distinguishing features of the Dragon are courage, strength, power and single-mindedness of purpose – all the qualities, indeed, of the successful entrepreneur!But it’s more than this. Just as the fiery Dragon defies the laws of gravity and flies high above the clouds, we too, with the help of Youth Business Russia and our mentors, have been developing a fundamentally new concept of business. In our approach, our customers are fully-fledged participants in our commercial vision, and business and society have similar values and goals. The average entrepreneur does business; we “do” business… and life.We thank you, Your Royal Highness, as well as Youth Business International and the International Business Leaders Forum in Russia, for the YBR programme, for all the support and the inspiration which have made this possible.Alexander MatyukhovDenis ChernykhYury Segal (Mentor)“The highlight for me during my last visit to Youth Business Russia was the meeting with Voronezh mentor Yury Segal. He is a wonderful man and was so interesting to talk to. He spoke so highly of his mentees, young entrepreneurs and the Voronezh and Moscow teams and with such dedication to his role as a mentor. This to me is what the YBI Network is about and, after he left, Boris and I turned to each other and agreed this is why we do our jobs!”Andrew DevenportCEO, Youth Business InternationalPhoto: Denis Chernykh, YBR participant (left) with his business partner Alexander Matyukhov, with the piece of their workPhoto (from left to right): Yury Segal (YBR mentor), Irina Gorelova (YBR regional coordinator), Denis Chernykh (YBR participant), Boris Tkachenko (Head of the IBLF Branch Office in Russia, YBR Programme Manager), Alexander Matyukhov (partner)Photo (from left to right): Brook Horowitz (Executive Director for Russia, IBLF), Andrew Devenport (CEO, YBI), Yury Segal (YBR mentor), Boris Tkachenko (Head of the IBLF Branch Office in Russia, YBR Programme Manager)