Interview: Bulldozer Group's Evgeny Kuzin

Evgeny Kuzin is a man of few words. He prefers to let his multi-million dollar hospitality empire do the talking. At just 31 years old, the young Russian is responsible for introducing Dubai to some of the world’s most elite restaurant and nightclub brands — all through global hospitality firm Bulldozer Group, where he acts as founder and managing partner of the group’s Middle East operations.

Under its umbrella, Kuzin’s money maker runs restaurants designed for the ultra-rich. These include Monte Carlo’s famous Sass Café, London’s celebrity hangout Novikov, Sydney’s prominent Toko, and Venice’s legendary Cipriani, where Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum is a regular.

If that’s not impressive enough, the group is the force behind the city’s major players in luxury nightlife, having imported London-concept Movida, Saint Tropez’s VIP Room, as well as developing Dubai’s own home-grown Hobo.

Quite the portfolio for a six-year-old company situated in one of the most sought-after nightlife cities in the world — but Kuzin’s expressionless face and laid-back attitude makes it look like a piece of cake.

“We took a shot at it,” says the Russian, simply. “Movida was our first concept — just to try and see if it works. And it did. We didn’t try to make it very commercial. It just turned out very successful.”

Successful might be an understatement considering the club cost the magnate a staggering $10m to fit out, a figure he reportedly recouped within a year.

Following Movida in 2011, the only way was up for Kuzin and his empire. Soon after, he launched Saint Tropez brand VIP Room in Dubai, arguably making it the first high-end European nightclub marque to hit the city.

But it was in 2014 and 2016 that the Russian took the dining scene by storm, launching Sass Café and Toko in 2014 followed by Arkady Novikov’s Novikov and Cipriani just two years after. And while it helps having globally recognised concepts, Kuzin insists other factors are in play.

“It’s always important to analyse the market. In this business, concept is very important, but location is also very important,” he says.

It’s no surprise then that the group’s venues are located in the city’s most-wanted spots such as Downtown’s Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Sheikh Zayed Road. But the question remains: why Dubai?

“When I came first time to Dubai in 2005 I really liked the city. I felt that it had a lot of opportunity in the [hospitality] market. So I decided to stay here and develop this opportunity,” says Kuzin.

Opportunity might have been more plentiful in 2005 in Dubai, when dining and nightlife outlets weren’t a dime a dozen. But Kuzin’s perspective has not changed.

“There is a lot of competition. The market [in Dubai] is definitely not easy, because a lot of places are opening all the time. At the same time, the tourism is growing also. So it is not an easy market as some may think, but it’s a very good market to be in. Dubai is a stable market compared to most markets in the world right now actually,” says the founder.

It is because of the latter that Kuzin has big plans for his brainchild. He casually mentions that the group is opening two to three venues by the end of 2016, with several launches planned for 2017.

Of the new launches, some are home-grown concepts, or ‘khome grown’, as the Russian calls them.

“One of the concepts is going to have Uzbek cuisine mixed with Arabic dishes. We’re also opening a crab restaurant called King Crab, and a seafood venue called Seafood Kitchen,” says Kuzin, before announcing extra expansion plans in Saudi Arabia.

“We are bringing a few of our brands from Dubai to Saudi Arabia — like Novikov. It’s opening in Riyadh soon. There are a lot of Saudi customers here and a lot of Saudi customers in London are very loyal to the brand. They really like the food, really like the concept,” he states.

Restaurants and nightclubs are not the end of the line for Bulldozer’s Dubai takeover, however, as Kuzin reveals a boutique hotel is in the pipeline for the city. Considering the current economic slowdown in the city, it seems Kuzin is swimming against the tide. Still, he faces common market challenges that make his progress all the more difficult.

“Rent is going up like crazy in Dubai. That’s because a lot of people are looking at the market and every brand worldwide wants to be here — so everyone who has money wants to open F&B [in Dubai]. People think it’s a fun business — which it’s not. But it’s a very interesting business,” he says.

“There are a lot of offers in the market, so a lot of people coming here are offering bigger amounts of money for the rent — that’s how rent goes up.

“When they are opening, whether they succeed or not, it’s a different question, but the problem in the market is there is always somebody who is ready to pay extra.

“For instance in Moscow now when the situation happened with the crisis, when the rouble went down, a lot of cases happened where the rent was reviewed, because it was not possible for people to pay the same prices.

“It is not the same case in Dubai at the moment,” says Kuzin.

“Rent is not the only factor newcomers are willing to pay for, as he explains.

“Staffing, as usual, is a problem, because most of the staff are imported from worldwide and people are coming with some sort of [impressive] CV. So many places are opening and they’re jumping from place to place. They might get a better offer, they might not last long there, but still they are moving,” he adds.

At the rate Bulldozer is going, it is unlikely that rent or staff will hinder the group’s growth and, financially, Kuzin states that the firm is doing well in the circumstances.

“I wouldn’t prefer to go deep into the details but, as a group, of course we are growing on the turnover because we are opening more places and more people are coming. Compared to the market in general, yes it is being dropped down everywhere from beginning of 2016 and the first quarter,” says Kuzin.

“But we expect that from the first quarter of 2017, it’s going to start growing, because the cycle is that usually the crisis lasts for one year. We are always 5% up. I’m talking about the single venue operation [like for like], but with the additional business it’s growing much faster,” he continues.

“Yes, in 2016 every cheque has dropped down a little bit — not dramatically — but it has dropped definitely. You have fewer Saudi tourists because of the oil price — they feel some crisis. You have fewer Russian tourists, who are spending less money, [and] fewer Chinese as well. It’s a little bit changing but, like I said, the spending power in Dubai is quite strong compared to many other markets. The situation in Egypt and Turkey definitely helps Dubai. It’s always benefitting,” he adds.

Oil crisis or no oil crisis, spending power or no spending power, you will not see a shift in ultra-rich clientele at Kuzin’s elite creations anytime soon.

“We have quite a few interesting situations where people are coming and spending a big amount of money. We had one client who spent $300,000 at one of our Dubai outlets. I think it was big celebration, [perhaps] — a good deal happened. Or maybe it was just a normal night for them. For us, it was definitely not a normal night,” says the Russian, laughing.

Considering the millionaire has managed to build a hospitality empire in a strange country in the span of six years, we cannot wait to see what he has in store for Dubai in the near future.

In view of his VIP clientele, we daresay Kuzin has created a hospitality menu fit for kings — or as Russians call them, Tsars.