About Vladimer Gersamia
Vladimer Gersamia was born in 1983 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Vladimer moved to the Netherlands with his family. He lived there for seven years until 1998, when he attended the British school in the Netherlands. This gave him his first experience of interacting with various nationalities from across the world, as well as getting his first taste of the British education system. In 1998 he went to prestigious Leys boarding school in Cambridge where he completed his high school studies, focusing on history, economics, and English literature.
Following applications to various universities, Vladimer earned a place at Bristol where he studied history in economics. This joint degree allowed him to develop two ways of thinking; one focused on humanities and the other on the technical aspect of business. After graduating from university in 2004, Vladimer was able to obtain a much sought-after role as an analyst in an investment bank in the City of London.
During that period, investment banking was considered a prime profession and competition for positions was extremely intense. Vladimer Gersamia worked in the realm of mergers and acquisitions with British financial institutions for one year, but eventually felt the need to focus his activities on his home region of Eastern Europe. He managed to find a job in the macroeconomic research and fixed-income trade strategy department at Merrill Lynch International in London. At that point, he was one the youngest analysts in the industry, in sole charge of presenting the bank’s view and strategy on fixed income investments in the former Soviet Union. Following such success, Vladimer was invited to join the blue chip hedge fund Fortis Investments with a portfolio encompassing all emerging markets.
The 2008 financial crash and its repercussions brought with it a period of disillusionment of what it meant to work in financial markets for Vladimer. It became clear to him that most of the quantitative risk assessment models based on backtesting data were not worth the paper they were written on. And it was extremely sad for him to see a few members of the financial community almost bring down the whole sector. Thereafter, Vladimer was convinced that his potential would be more fulfilled if he started working closer to the real economy.
After a period of several years investigating various production and manufacturing sectors, he decided that pursuing the trading of tangible goods for public benefit was more in line with his values and a better use of his talents. Upon making the transition from one industry to another, Vladimer realized it was important to obtain good work experience in a large organization. As such, he became a product specialist in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, working with some of the top brands in the industry. Vladimer’s focus was on exotic imports and creating supply chains for efficient delivery of products, primarily from South America and Africa.
He spent a good deal of time establishing relationships and gaining a first-hand understanding of the market. Close to 2020, he came to realize that the wholesale food sector would begin to experience major changes in light of emerging global trends. It was clear to Vladimer that the efficient supply of essential products would become of critical importance. Sensing the time was right, he took the risk of establishing his own business, setting up an entity for wholesale trade of fast moving consumer goods. He was able to leverage his previous experiences and relationships to create an enterprise that focused on the importing of various food products from across the globe to his home region. Vladimer moved back to Georgia and realized that there existed a disproportionate amount of inefficiencies in that nation’s supply chain which resulted in higher prices for end consumers. Addressing this issue has been the number one goal of his business, MMBI Trading.
Today, MMBI is an established multinational trader with offices in Dubai, Istanbul, Yerevan, Almaty, and Tashkent. The company boasts a sterling reputation with suppliers, delivering products at a fair price to its clients. Vladimer Gersamia is very proud that his business is able to feed millions of people in the region and bring them essential items as efficiently as possible.