Working in-house: Russian retail
Moscow-based Maksim Arefiev is director of the legal service centre at X5 Retail Group and has worked in-house since qualifying as a lawyer. He chats to GC about his career in the Russian retail sector.
GC: Was law your first career?
Maksim Arefiev (MA): My first profession was as a military translator and I served as an officer in the Russian military forces. I participated in several peacekeeping missions in the former Yugoslavia. While on these missions I not only worked as a translator, but also performed the function of civil observer. I worked on a wide variety of challenging tasks, such as resolving conflicts between the Serbian police and Kosovo Albanians, participating in humanitarian missions, and participating in the investigation of various military crimes. Upon my return from Kosovo, I decided to go to law school and become a lawyer.
