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Dmitry Pinsky
Co-Founder
Once, security was called because the bosses were screaming so loudly employees thought they needed separation. Twenty years later, Dmitry Pinsky and Igor Davtyan still sit face-to-face in a shared office, having established explicit conflict protocols that sustained their partnership through five economic crises.
Transformation Arc
Once, a secretary called security because the bosses were screaming so loudly that employees thought they needed to be separated. Thirty-three years later, Dmitry Pinsky and Igor Davtyan still share an office, sitting face-to-face. Their fathers were friends before they met as engineering students at Moscow Energy Institute. Now Dmitry says of their partnership: “We simply cannot be separated.”
No crisis could alter my decision to choose this line of business. To be happy, one has to have a desire for work beyond the financial aspect.
The wine expert who started with electrical engineering #
Dmitry’s path to becoming one of Russia’s most respected wine authorities began in the electrical engineering classrooms of Moscow Energy Institute, where he met Igor Davtyan in the same student group during the late 1980s. Their fathers were already friends—portraits of both patriarchs still hang in DP-Trade’s headquarters on Nizhegorodskaya Street. This intergenerational foundation would prove crucial for sustaining a business partnership across decades of economic turbulence.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the two friends registered DP-Trade on January 4, 1992, initially importing premium tableware and restaurant equipment for Russia’s emerging hospitality sector. Dmitry’s wine knowledge at this stage was nascent—learned from a wine-loving father but not yet the encyclopedic expertise that would later impress French estate owners. The decision to enter wine came three years later, sparked by what he describes as deliberate serendipity rather than random luck.
The 1994 Bordeaux trip established the template for everything that followed. Dmitry and Igor walked into L’Intendant, a legendary wine shop at Place de la Comédie, and asked the owners to introduce them to suppliers. What distinguished this moment from countless similar approaches by aspiring importers was Dmitry’s preparation: by 1994 he had already studied wines and prices extensively. The French suppliers appreciated this knowledge, recognizing a serious student rather than an opportunist chasing post-Soviet quick profits.
Partnership protocols that sustain through crisis #
The secret to Dmitry and Igor’s longevity lies in complementary temperaments and explicit conflict resolution protocols. Igor handles administrative and financial matters as General Director; Dmitry manages wine selection and supplier relationships. They have sat at desks facing each other in a shared office for over 20 years—an arrangement that most business partnerships would find claustrophobic but which they consider essential.
Early in their partnership, they established what Igor describes as a fundamental rule: “Don’t hold dissatisfaction but express everything to each other right away.” This commitment to transparency sometimes produces intense conflict. The screaming debates occasionally last multiple hours, with volume loud enough that once a secretary genuinely believed the bosses needed physical separation by security guards.
Yet these confrontations consistently produce what they call “consolidated decisions” rather than festering resentment. Igor described their relationship with remarkable intimacy for business partners: “Dmitry remains the closest person to me, we simply cannot be separated.” They travel together on business trips, vacation together, and celebrate their children’s and grandchildren’s birthdays together. This depth of personal friendship creates resilience that purely transactional partnerships lack.
The partnership dynamic proved crucial during Russia’s repeated economic shocks. When the 1998 financial crisis hit just four years after their pivot to wine, Dmitry’s conservative instincts prevented the overextension that killed competitors. During the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, he articulated a philosophy that explains both his personal commitment and the company’s survival: “We have traditionally been careful and conservative… No crisis could alter my decision to choose this line of business. To be happy, one has to have a desire for work beyond the financial aspect.”
This wasn’t empty rhetoric. The 2011 licensing reform eliminated numerous competitors who failed new regulatory requirements. Dmitry’s response revealed contrarian confidence: “For once I agree with state authorities! Our turnover only grew due to those who didn’t pass registration.” Where others saw regulatory burden, he saw market consolidation that benefited disciplined operators.
Expertise as competitive moat #
Dmitry’s most valuable asset is the encyclopedic wine knowledge that makes him irreplaceable to both his business partner and his supplier relationships. Industry curator Igor Serdyuk observed: “Even now you can hardly find an expert like Dmitry.” This expertise wasn’t inherited or formally taught—it was accumulated through decades of tasting, studying, traveling to estates, and building personal relationships with legendary winemakers.
The portfolio Dmitry assembled reflects relationships that money alone cannot buy: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Château Pétrus, Gaja, Biondi-Santi, Vega Sicilia. These estates reject most distributor approaches. What convinced them to work with a Moscow-based importer was Dmitry’s genuine understanding of their wines and his demonstrated commitment across market cycles. When sanctions hit in 2014 and intensified in 2022, these long-term relationships proved more durable than contracts based solely on volume commitments.
Dmitry’s influence extends beyond wine through family connections that embed DP-Trade within Moscow’s cultural elite. His daughter Elena married rapper Basta, one of Russia’s most successful musicians. His nephew Alexey Pinsky worked at DP-Trade for 15 years before launching a successful restaurant career. His wife Alina operates an art gallery. These connections position Dmitry not as a mere importer but as a cultural curator whose wines flow naturally into influential venues.
The 2000 launch of the Vinum boutique network transformed Dmitry from wholesale importer to retail brand architect. The decision to name the St. Petersburg location “Intendant”—honoring the Bordeaux shop where his wine journey began—revealed sentimental attachment rare in business operators. The 2007 integration of the Prechistenka boutique with the Artefakt gallery created a wine-art fusion concept that reinforced premium positioning through cultural association rather than price signaling alone.
The future of a 33-year partnership #
Dmitry and Igor face the question that all long-term partnerships eventually confront: succession. Neither has publicly articulated a transition plan, and both remain actively involved in daily operations. This continuity provides strategic stability but creates potential vulnerability if health or interest wanes. The partnership model they’ve built—sitting face-to-face, debating intensely, consolidating decisions—does not easily transfer to successors.
The 2022-2025 sanctions regime tested the relationship through unprecedented external pressure. Import tariffs rose from 12.5% to 20%; excise taxes tripled; EU wine shipments to Russia dropped 90%. Yet DP-Trade continues operating with its established portfolio, generating 1.245 billion rubles in revenue with 57.6 million rubles profit in 2023. The company’s 33rd consecutive year of operation suggests that conservative management and genuine partnership can sustain businesses through geopolitical turbulence that pure capital cannot solve.
Dmitry’s story demonstrates that complementary temperaments, explicit conflict resolution protocols, and genuine personal friendship can sustain business relationships across decades of economic volatility. The discipline to express conflict immediately rather than allowing resentment to accumulate, the commitment to work for reasons beyond financial returns, and the patience to build relationships with premium suppliers over decades—these personal qualities created competitive advantages that aggressive competitors pursuing rapid scaling could not replicate.
The two engineering students who walked into L’Intendant in 1994 and asked for supplier introductions built not just Russia’s premier wine business, but a partnership model that survives conditions where purely transactional relationships fail. That may be Dmitry’s most valuable contribution: proving that long-term business success in volatile markets depends as much on personal relationship discipline as on wine expertise or capital access.