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Well, no. I like girls with a sense of humor. You know, when I come to Peter I walk about Nevski with my jaw dropped. Sometimes I just stop and watch people. We have very beautiful people here. Recently I met a gymnast girl from Bashkiria (a region in Russia ?T.). On Friday I'm leaving for Moscow to attend European Championships ?I'm going to root for her. However, I don't have any intentions to get married. There are no (bride) candidates... About the bright future.So you are currently on vacation. What do you do with your time?At the end of June I'm going to take a course in piloting the single engine plane. I have a friend who always thinks out something unusual like rock-climbing, or diving for fish. She is a pilot herself, she even can pilot a boeing? and she offered me to learn how to aviate a single engine plane. New stuff is always interesting. Something has clicked in my head once and I decided to pass an exam for the sailing license. I passed it! It was cool because I did something different from figure skating. Generally speaking, I try to find a new field of action. For example, my uncle deals with repairs of small houses and apartments, my cousin is a pastry-cook, Anton Sikharulidze owns a restaurant. Everybody does something, I am the only one unoccupied. (smiles). I feel uncomfortable when I come home to Russia. Well, I party with my friends for a week, then I go to barbecues with my parents, then we drink some vodka. And that's it. I'm on vacation, but I have nothing to do. I am a kind of person who always has to do something. That's why I was leaving to help Tatiana Tarasova to work with her students. Do you plan to deal with coaching?I will work with the French skater in August. I'm going to conduct a seminar in Vancouver where the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held. Last year I helped Tatiana Anatoljevna to train Andrei Griazev. I went to junior competitions with him, also to a Junior Grand Prix Final, and in the end, he became a Junior World Champion. But I can't call myself a coach because I can't spend the whole year with one skater or with a group of students. I still skate myself, and I love it. Where is it harder to perform ?in eligibles or in pros?In eligible competition it is physically easier, but psychologically tougher. In professional ranks, it's vice versa. I get tired like a dog. A new season will start soon, and I am supposed to skate at 60 shows in USA and at 12 shows in Canada. By the rule, there can't be more than 4 performances in a week. It's not the same as in eligible competition where you skated, waved to the crowd and left. I have to come out on the ice seven times in one show ?for 2 solo numbers and 5 group numbers. About business.As a child I was dreaming about becoming a taxi or a truck driver. I've always liked travelling, and I love cars. What kind of car do you drive now?I recently bought a Mercedes C-class. I used to own a Chevrolet Blazer which was assembled either in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. I always had problems with spares, so I changed it to Mercedes.

Is it a new one?No, it's from 1999. Why? I am a modest person. Your friend Anton Sikharulidze is not only a skater now, but also a victualer. But you seem to be unoccupied, right?Not exactly. I earn my penny apart from skating too. For the past two or three years I've been dealing with real estate in America. I buy houses with 2-3 apartments and give them for rent. Residents pay for the rent, and with years the price of my property only goes up. For the first two years I was living in New Jersey. I bought a condominium in 45 minutes drive from New York. I lived there for a year, then I moved but I didn't sell the house. I let one man to reside there, and he was paying the rent to me. In five years the price of that house grew up more than two times! Now I sell it. Less than a year ago I bought a land to built a house there. While I was thinking on a project, advising with designers and considering various ideas and offers, the state decided they wanted to buy the land from me because they had to broaden the highway. With great pleasure I sold that land for twice better money. That's how one penny adds to another penny and makes a million, eh?Right, penny to penny. (smiles). Right now I am investing in real estate in Florida because the Olympics are going to be held there. I also have investments in Canada. About coaches.What kind of document do you have in the U.S.?I have a green card.Is there a chance of getting an American citizenship?There was and there still is a chance. I could get a U.S. passport this winter-spring. I just don't see a point in that. I have a free access to America and a free access to Russia. Anyway, no matter what kind of passport do I have, I will always be Russian at heart.Where do you plan to live in the future?I will live where my work is. For now, I live in USA because that country gave me an opportunity to train, it gave me a chance to become an Olympic Champion, that country pays me a deserving salary for my work. What about Russia, wasn't it giving you the same opportunities?In Russia I had very complex relationships with figure skating federation. So it happened that after I left Mishin, me and Tarasova decided to go to USA to train. Do you think well of your former coach Alexei Mishin?Well, maybe not so well...Hmm... But didn't he make what you are today?I think it is a credit to a whole group of people. First of all it's Tarasova, then of course, my agent Dmitri Goryachkin, choreographer Kolya Morozov, and my parents. But it was Tarasova who made me an Olympic Champion. If I didn't come to her in due time, I would have never won. You mean that Mishin has nothing to do with your success?Why? He made me a World Champion, I learned a lot from him. But I repeat, if I continued to train under him, I would have never become an Olympic Champion. Weird. Plushenko has achieved a lot!We'll see what happens next year. I wish him good health. About habits and predilections.Do you treat your wardrobe with trepidation?

Actually, no. I'm a simple person, I don't care what I wear. I noticed that people in Russia care about their appearances a lot. Even a student girl who lives on a scholarship tries to dress well. Here people want to look pretty all the time. What about America?There, nobody cares if you wear shorts or jeans. Here, I have a feeling like each day is a holiday. Everybody dresses up like there is a celebration. What's your take on having a drink?Just like any other healthy man's. (laughs) You know, I never liked cognac and I was always told that when I finally grow to like it it would mean that I matured. I'm really liking cognac these days.About Russia.Don't you have any thoughts of expanding your real estate property in Russia? You have to stay with your parents here, right?Yes, I live with my parents. But Russia will always be Russia. A complete chaos, nobody knows what tomorrow brings. In America everything is clear. For example, it takes me 15, or at worst 17 minutes to get from home to work. And I know that this is the exact time for getting to work. In Peter, it may take me half an hour, or maybe an hour. In USA one has the stability and confidence. Here? I'm not sure. In such case, what do you think Putis is ?a progressive leader or an oppressor of democracy? I think that democracy is not suitable for Russia. When Russians get freedom, it doesn't lead to anything good. Russian people need to have certain given limits, they need to be guided. Russians do not understand freedom. And Putin... Well, I guess I like him. At least he is sober when he comes off the board of the plane, and he is well-spoken. And also... he is a President. I mean, everybody likes their President. (smiles) Russia only has two cities ?Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. All other built-up areas are city-type villages. Sometimes I feel like crying visiting those cities. Once I did actually cry because of, I don't know, a kind of despair? I was deeply shocked watching those rotten houses that barely stand, and those poor old grannies. In USA I was congratulating our veterans on 60th Victory Anniversary. They live like humans! They have good living conditions there, although if we think of it, it's not their home country. In America even foreigners have everything - here, there is nothing for our own people. The younger ones will break through somehow, but what about the elders? I was so worried for our people, it was not nice when all the privileges were cancelled. Do you have any kind of relationship with skating federation?It's a cold relationship. I never won any competition with the vote of the Russian judge. I won all kinds of championships but never Russian Nationals. Five times I was second, always behind someone else. Mishin is on good terms with Federation, Tarasova could never say the same. She was always protecting her students, never send them on errands at the Federation's will. Nobody likes the truth here. When I came to train with her, she told me: lyosha, we are going to have strained relationships with the Federation, don't count on its support. If you want to win you have to be head and shoulders above everyone else.?br> In your opinion, what are the prospects of Saint-Petersburg figure skating school development?The Olympics will come, we are going to perform there, and then there seems to be nothing. The Federation failed to produce good training conditions for the young athletes in the due time. There are strong skaters ?Plushenko, Slutskaya ?but if they quit after the Olympics, that will be it. We have good promising kids, but they have no prospects. I doubt they will be winning all competitions for five years in a row like me and Zhenya used to do. Alas, I don't see a very radiant future for the Russian figure skating.>>Tanya