From St. Petersburg to Tallinn with two suitcases
Juri Ljaskin was recently promoted to Vice President of Supply Chain Management, Store Process Development, and Sustainability in S-Group, SOK. He started his working career 15 years ago in Saint Petersburg as an assistant and interpreter for the operations director of the S-Group’s grocery retail chain in the region. Juri has a double nationality, Finnish and Russian, and he speaks both languages fluently.
Juri's Russian background and geopolitical challenges have greatly changed his professional and personal life in the last two years. When the war in Ukraine started, Juri was already organizing a move to Estonia. Juri and his family had to leave their entire lives and parents in Saint Petersburg and move to Tallinn with only their suitcases. However, life has settled down, and their home is now in Tallinn. S-Group sold its business in Russia while ensuring that the majority of nearly 1,000 employees would have an opportunity to continue their work lives.
Juri has been working in S-Group for 15 years, almost half his life; he is 34 years old. When he was younger, he was not interested in university studies. When S-Group opened its own logistics center in Saint Petersburg, with exciting positions in logistics, Juri took a new direction in his career and started to work in Supply Chain. Juri worked in logistics and procurement and was later promoted to management team positions. With his own personality and persistence, Juri has been able to raise the status of Supply Chain in S-Group in Russia and Estonia, despite his young age. Over the years, Juri has gotten used to leading an organization with more mature team members. He has faced ageism during his career but has overcome challenges with perseverance. Juri values the experience in his team and feels that a team of people of different ages brings wisdom and experience.
Currently, he is responsible for logistics, replenishment, master data, space management, workforce management, development of store processes and sustainability. Sustainability is a growing trend in Estonia, and Finland is a role model in that field. Juri is leading in Estonia Prisma Peremarket AS with annual revenue north of 200M Euro; their market share is ~ 6%, and they are in the top 5.
Juri and Henley Business School Finland
Juri started his Henley Business School Finland Executive MBA program in March 2021, the same time when the pandemic broke out. Juri was considering several different options but ultimately chose Henley Business School due to the international program and the triple accreditation. Juri said:
”Henley Business School program was excellent and exceeded my expectations. I want to raise the Personal Development journey as a central piece in the Henley Business School EMBA program. It helped me grow as a leader in interacting and collaborating with others.”
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