By 1993, Leon could no longer find employment and the family, which had been very successful and respected in the community were reduced to extreme poverty. Sergei, in his teens spent most of the time doing odd jobs at factories such as a coal-boy, in order to help his family. He was not able to finish school. At the same time, he saw the St. Petersburg he loved grow to complete economic recession as the industries that sustained the Soviet Union were shutdown in the wake of its collapse. He also looked on as American companies such as Ford Motor Company, McDonald's, and many other American companies. Sergei still remembers the old city as Leningrad, and calls St. Petersburg by its Soviet name when he is with his friends.
Sergei finally was able to find steady employment in 1999, after the death of his father. The Russian economy had stabilized...
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