By CHRISTOPHER LIM

ROUSTAM Tariko has a joke about what banking and vodka have in common. 'Both help you realise your dreams faster,' said the Russian.

But the workaholic 46-year-old wasn't just being witty, because he has built up a business empire, valued by Forbes at some US$3.5 billion last year, based on both vodka and banking. It got him ranked 307th on the Forbes' billionaire list last year.

Mr Tariko's Russian Standard Bank is the largest consumer lender in Russia but has remained domestic, while Russian Standard Vodka has grown into an internationally established brand of premium vodka.

He made his first business trip to Singapore on Wednesday to firm up details of a new distribution agreement with Maxxium South East Asia covering Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and the Philippines. Russian Standard was previously distributed in Singapore by Giorgio Ferrari.

'With the increasing growth of the vodka category in both domestic and travel retail, we are confident that Russian Standard will do very well in this region,' said Jonathan Chow, managing director of Maxxium for South-east Asia.

While Mr Tariko insists on owning his vodka production facilities himself, he readily embraces the need to work with distributors. 'You need to find your customers in the right places, which is why I like Maxxium,' he said. 'They have known how to distribute vodka for a long time, and I usually like to partner myself with people who understand such things, particularly globally.'

Of course, Mr Tariko's ambitious plans for building the Russian Standard Vodka brand in the region come at a time of tightened purses, and one of his concessions to these realities is to avoid flashy campaigns trumpeting extravagant lifestyles.

'People entertain less, and drink more at home, so the entire programme today with vodka is how to work more with people who drink at home and entertain at home, rather than entertaining in big clubs or expensive restaurants,' he said.

Although Mr Tariko went into vodka first before expanding into banking, Russian Standard Bank still makes more money than Russian Standard Vodka, even taking into account the global recession, which begs the question why Mr Tariko is putting so much effort into vodka.

It comes down to a combination of passion and shrewdness. Russian Standard Vodka has a track record of thriving in recessions, which justifies Mr Tariko's optimism. 'I launched Russian Standard Vodka in '98 when the last financial crisis hit Russia badly, and nobody believed that premium vodka would be successful, particularly when Russians lost their money three times as the rouble devalued three times. Nevertheless, the product took off,' he said.

Mr Tariko added: 'Because of the global potential, I have more opportunities in growing my vodka business than my banking business.'

Over two million cases of Russian Standard Vodka were sold last year, and the brand's distribution now covers all the major European markets, and includes the United Kingdom, where Mr Tariko says Russian Standard Vodka overtook rival Absolut's market share in a single year.

Russian Standard Vodka already has a brand profile here, having been the official vodka for the Singapore Fashion Festival last year. Maxxium Singapore expects both the visibility and volume of the premium vodka to increase significantly under its wings.

This article was first published in The Business Times.