Portrait

1. Sergey Bouksa’s mantra is deceptively
simple: “If you want to win, you have to
work hard!” But there’s much more to his
winning combination than mere diligence.
Born in 1970 into a family of engineers and
economists in Brest, Belarus on the Polish
border, Sergey and his elder brother were
brought up “in an atmosphere of simple
human values: love, respect and trust.
Our parents believed in us and spared no
efforts to ensure that we had a good edu-
cation and grew up honest and industrious
so that we could find good jobs and afford
what they called a ‘better life.’”
Ever curious and open to diversity, Sergey
was anxious to escape what he terms the
“boring uniformity of the Soviet era.” This
led him to read psychology, linguistics and
pedagogy at the State Linguistic University
in Minsk, graduating in English, French and
Italian in 1993. “I still believe that speak-
ing foreign languages is a great key to the
knowledge and culture of other nations,”
Sergey says. “I read and enjoyed Oscar
Wilde, Somerset Maugham, Mark Twain,
Maupassant and Victor Hugo, but having
been brought up on Russian literature, my
favorites will always remain Pushkin, Tol-
stoy and Chekhov,” he adds with a smile.
Yet despite his excellent language skills,
after university the realities of the post-
Soviet era hit home. To acquire some
commercial knowledge, Sergey took a
Business Introduction degree from the
University of Western Ontario’s School of
Business Administration. His first job was
as a marketing associate at Shell’s repre-
sentative office in Belarus, but as he had
always been fascinated by people, nego-
tiating and achieving competitive targets,
he soon found himself heading the sales
and marketing team of a national Martini/
Bacardi and Allied Domecq distributor in
Belarus. “It was an exciting job,” Sergey re-
members, “and offered me many learning
opportunities and my first management
experience. However, my quest for diver-
sity called for something else – I wanted to
work for a true multinational.”
Enthusiasm, energy, expectation
“In February 1998, my dream came true: I
joined R J Reynolds, launching my career
in a truly global business. I still remember
the sense of enthusiasm, energy and ex-
pectation – which I have now experienced
at least three times as my career at JTI
has progressed since JT acquired RJR in
1999. We went through many business
set-up stages in Belarus, increasing annual
volume from almost zero to half a billion
– a great source of satisfaction – but once
the opportunity arose to move forward in
my career, at the end of 2000 I eagerly ac-
cepted the post of Regional Sales Manager
for the Baltic markets: Latvia, Lithuania
and Estonia.”
The move to the Latvian capital, Riga, was
a major decision, particularly as it meant
Sergey’s wife Galina leaving her job with
an Italian packaging manufacturer. “We
had very little idea of what we were letting
ourselves in for, but we had enormous
support from the Company, which does so
much to make these transitions easier for
its international employees.” For three-and-
a-half years, Sergey led C&TM operations,
and was responsible for setting up trade
marketing teams and new key accounts to
handle the booming
trade with super-
markets and petrol
stations that was
emerging beside ki-
osks and organized
convenience stores.
“We achieved excel-
lent growth – a real
success story. And
my family also grew
(Galina gave our son
Anton a little brother, Alexey).” Ever-eager
to improve his functional knowledge, Ser-
gey also enrolled for an MBA degree at the
business school of the Open University in
the UK. “It took me almost four years to
finish my degree – a very challenging pe-
riod with plenty of work, sleepless nights
and the excitement of exams passed.”
Opportunity beckoned again in 2004
when the Bouksa family moved to Ge-
neva, where Sergey was stationed as
Trade Marketing Manager in the Global
Marketing Excellence team. “Experienc-
ing a global role at Geneva HQ is the
best thing that can happen to any JTI
employee, as it offers real global in-
volvement, connects you with so many
people across the world, expands your
professional horizons and accelerates
the learning curve. I worked with many
markets across different regions as well
as various stakeholder groups in Ge-
neva. But once you’ve accumulated that
knowledge, you become impatient to get
back to the market so as to be able to put
it into practice!”
Intense and varied
The chance to do so came in February
2008, when the Bouksas moved to Bel-
grade, Serbia, where Sergey was to lead
the C&TM Strategy, Planning and De-
velopment teams. “So far, this was the
most intense and varied assignment of
my career!” he laughs. The portfolio in-
creased from 54 to 126 SKUs, the team
grew from 96 to 129, and market share
rose to 10% – a considerable achieve-
ment. And operations expanded from
five to seven markets – Serbia, Croatia,
Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia Herze-
govina, Albania, and Kosovo. “We owe
this continuous growth to our wonderful
people,” he adds with pride.
Sergey has been Head of C&TM Adriatica
since October 2010. “The Adriatica region
is a big mix, with major differences in
lifestyle, religion and ethnic background,”
he explains. What differences has Sergey
noticed in his ten-year stint away from
Belarus? “In the Baltic markets, people
were more reserved
and less emotional,
while at Geneva HQ
there was an incred-
ibly diverse mix of
people from all over
the world. Here in
Serbia, people are
warmer, easy-going
and more Mediter-
ranean in spirit. But
the best way to get
to know Adriatica is to take part in our
C&TM Conference, where you’ll be greet-
ed in at least seven different languages by
people of eight different nationalities. This
is the place to discuss sales, wholesalers,
fully managed DSD, distributors, TME or
to learn about ad valorem excise, fixed
excise, mixed excise, advertising bans,
30:40 or 50:50, pictorial health warn-
ings, or customs and trade arrangements
between countries in the region, the EU
and Eastern Europe. This diversity is our
strength and stimulates innovation.”
Clarity of direction
“And if anyone were to ask me what I
consider the most important thing in busi-
ness,” Sergey adds, “I would say: clarity of
direction and having the right people on
board. Throughout my career, I’ve been
privileged to work with great people, and
that’s what I believe in! To quote one of
my favorite authors, Anton Chekhov, ‘You
must trust and believe in people, or life
becomes impossible.’”
So far, Sergey’s faith appears to have
stood him in good stead. Of course, it also
helps to have a supportive, loving wife and
family. The Bouksas’ third son, Alexander,
was born in Belgrade. Who knows where
his father will take him next? And while
Sergey enjoys a rare moment of repose
before moving on to pastures new, he can
indulge his philosophical nature – by dip-
ping into War and Peace.
The
restless
philosopher
Head of CTM Adriatica
Sergey Bouksa, originally
from Belarus, has been based
in Belgrade, Serbia, since
2008. The past decade has
seen him pursue a rapid and
varied career – while
retaining a philosophical
view of the world.
“Experiencing a global role at
Geneva HQ is the best thing that
can happen to any JTI employee…
but once you’ve accumulated that
knowledge, you become impatient
to get back to the market to put
it into practice.”
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