Bridging the economic gap between Siberia and Australia through a AGSM MBA Scholarship

The AGSM @ UNSW Business School Global Reach Scholarship provides the opportunity for exceptional students from diverse international backgrounds access to AGSM’s Full-Time MBA program and to gain a world-class education within Sydney, Australia. 

Andrey Pankeev is a recipient of the AGSM Global Reach Scholarship and has joined AGSM’s Full-Time MBA program from Siberia, Russia. 

“When you are contemplating an MBA degree, it’s daunting to think you will have to give up your current job, move to the opposite side of the world, in my case anyway, and start a new chapter of your career. However, the Global Reach Scholarship provided me with the confidence to concentrate on my studies knowing that I’m financially secure.” 

The Global Reach Scholarship gives exceptional students from diverse international backgrounds access to AGSM’s Full-Time MBA program.

“I come from a small scientific town in Academgorodok, Siberia. When I was studying my undergraduate at Novosibirsk State University, I co-founded a semi-wholesale shop at a local car market as my first independent business venture. During the first year, our company grew from one store into a mid-sized wholesaler, operating all over Siberia, with turnover growing tenfold,” said Andrey. 

From his entrepreneurial beginnings, Andrey knew he was passionate about marketing and wanted to learn from prominent brand-building specialists. This led him to pursue a career with Procter&Gamble as the Gillette Brand Manager responsible for Eastern European markets, before moving into the position of Trade Marketing Manager, where Andrey’s responsibilities expanded to include the Kazakhstan and Central Asian markets.

“Working for a big multinational company might not seem like the most logical way for a person with the ambition to be an entrepreneur, however the experience gave me the chance to develop my intrapreneurial skills and business acumen,” he said. 

After seven years at P&G, Andrey returned to his entrepreneurial roots and worked for his family’s business by creating plans for new market expansion. “Unfortunately, small businesses within Russia are constantly under threat and my projects were stalled. I realised I needed to expand my skillset even further and I believed an MBA from an elite business school would be a massive boost and would open up a variety of new career opportunities.” 

The AGSM Full-Time MBA program has a contemporary curriculum and provides students with the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse group of people from 18+ different nationalities to sharpen critical thinking and communication skills for future leadership roles. The flexibility of the courses enables students to build solid foundations in general management, entrepreneurship and innovation, finance strategy, and marketing management.  

“I have enjoyed every day so far that I have been at AGSM. During my first four weeks I significantly improved my presentation skills, learned the basics of Complex Problem Solving and experienced the unforgettable Complex Adaptive Leadership program that took place in the middle of the Australian Bush.” 

Andrey mentioned that since he landed in at Sydney at the beginning of the year and joined the AGSM 2020 Full-Time MBA cohort, he has met 53 new friends, business partners and mentors. With every member of the cohort willing to share their personal experience when encountering new challenges and whose different cultural backgrounds have broadened his mindset in terms of business strategy. 

“The program is a perfect cultural fit as people here share the same passion for freedom in its broad definition: celebrating diversity, encouraging different viewpoints and opinions and enabling everybody to find and achieve personal growth”, said Andrey. “AGSM’s unique international study options are another great opportunity to further my career growth in a global business environment. With my entrepreneurial background and with the advice from the AGSM Career Development Centre, I have no doubts I will have a successful career in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.”

“The AGSM MBA is a game changer. I believe this MBA is the best way for me to experience new career prospects that I previously didn’t consider as well as changing my geographical location to experience a new business economic environment.” 

The Global Reach Scholarship is just one of the many full and part-time tuition scholarships AGSM offers. To find out more about AGSM Full-Time MBA scholarships, click here: https://www.business.unsw.edu.au/agsm/scholarships-prizes/mba-full-time-scholarships.