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When perestroika began, I felt confident being a manager. Taking advantage of the situation, I founded a joint Finnish and Soviet enterprise. I met my Finnish friends during the construction for the Olympics. I purchased boilers from them. We’ve remained friends until today. We founded a joint enterprise dealing with the production of heating equipment.
When I got Grandmother’s house back, I formed a company to be able to build a house. My company was one of the first in independent Estonia; its number was 566. My company built a new six-story house in the place of Grandmother’s two wooden houses. We still keep building a lot of custom-made houses. I think that I took the most from perestroika.
There was a time when I seriously thought of immigration. It was in the period when perestroika was winding up, when there was a putsch in Moscow [51]. I was really frightened that with that putsch all would come back, and I said to myself that I would leave as I didn’t want to have such a life like I used to before. There was no way back. Luckily, the putsch ended up with a flunk and the breakup of the USSR. I am still living in Estonia.
During perestroika I got a chance to go to Israel for the first time. It is hard to describe my impressions of Israel in a few words. I was deeply impressed. I went to the southern part during my first trip. I was in such southern countries as Armenia and Georgia and I thought that I would see the same things in Israel. The first thing that impressed was the cleanliness of the toilets by the Dead Sea and by a small shop. I couldn’t expect to see that in a southern country.
When I got Grandmother’s house back, I formed a company to be able to build a house. My company was one of the first in independent Estonia; its number was 566. My company built a new six-story house in the place of Grandmother’s two wooden houses. We still keep building a lot of custom-made houses. I think that I took the most from perestroika.
There was a time when I seriously thought of immigration. It was in the period when perestroika was winding up, when there was a putsch in Moscow [51]. I was really frightened that with that putsch all would come back, and I said to myself that I would leave as I didn’t want to have such a life like I used to before. There was no way back. Luckily, the putsch ended up with a flunk and the breakup of the USSR. I am still living in Estonia.
During perestroika I got a chance to go to Israel for the first time. It is hard to describe my impressions of Israel in a few words. I was deeply impressed. I went to the southern part during my first trip. I was in such southern countries as Armenia and Georgia and I thought that I would see the same things in Israel. The first thing that impressed was the cleanliness of the toilets by the Dead Sea and by a small shop. I couldn’t expect to see that in a southern country.
Period
Location
Estonia
Interview
Avi Dobrysh