For many young adults, the early 20s feel like an extension of teen years — a time to explore, make mistakes, and weigh options. Some are still in university, others take gap years to travel or test the waters of short-term work or their very first job.
But for the driven few, the path to the top job is often clear well before adulthood arrives.
Volodymyr Kuzyara, 22, and already CEO of a commodity trading company, is one of them.
Inspired by his father, Kuzyara always knew the technical life was for him. Source: Volodymyr Kuzyara
Developing an interest in commodity trading from a young age
For someone who owns a commodity trading company, Kuzyara’s didn’t go to university to study business.
Instead, he had ambitions in aircraft design.
After three years at École Polytechnique studying maths and physics, he graduated in 2023 with strong results and received offers from several business schools and an aviation-focused university.
Still, one thing was certain: he was set on a master’s and a high-value career.
That was when he opted to pursue a master’s in management at INSEAD.
“I realised I would work my entire life for a fixed salary, and have limited career advancement,” he says. “Rather, I realised that for the fields that I’m interested in, I needed a very, very good management education to leverage my technical background.”
Kuzyara’s studies and work has brought him across countriesl ike France, Switzerland, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, and Singapore. Source: Volodymyr KuzyaraHe would soon run into an early lesson about the limits of logic. Being a numbers guy, he excelled in management courses that involved numbers and analysis, like finance and operations.
But he admitted struggling with subjects like strategy and leadership, which required him to make more qualitative judgments — tangible things that usually only come from experience.
“Sometimes, the decisions you make in business don’t need rigorous calculations,” he says. “Human factors, uncertainties, and so on – I learned that there are just some things you can’t do with math. But I believed that this learning experience would give me a head start in commodity trading, which turned out to be true, and I’m very happy about that decision!”
At INSEAD, he received a world-class business education. Source: Volodymyr Kuzyara
A young age is advantageous, no matter how you look at it
Kuzyarawas was just 20 when he started his master’s at INSEAD. In fact, he was the second-youngest in his cohort, having being surrounded by those mostly in their mid-20s to 30s.
“I was never judged for my age – rather, people look at your psychological age,” he says. “I gained a lot from them, and they gained a lot from me. People are eager to show me how things work, and how to approach certain things – overall, they engage to benefit me, rather than themselves.”
While INSEAD welcomed young Kuzyarawas, the industry a little less so. After graduating, he moved to Poland, where he became actively involved in commodity trading, working alongside his father to trade oil from Poland and Romania to Ukraine. While attempting to build and expand business partnerships as part of the process, Kuzyarawas was often not taken seriously because of his young age.
“I went to Polish companies with my business partners, and despite me being the most informed in the room, giving all the numbers, leading the conversation and so on, [“,” he admits. “They would rather talk to my partners. But I understand that these are important relationships, and it’s just business, so I try my best to stay confident and not let them get inside my head.”
Even now, as CEO of Eviron, his own joint-stock commodity trading company, Kuzyarawas sees his age as an advantage. “Young professionals like me – and my fellow classmates, for example – bring strong international exposure to the table, and that’s exactly what this industry needs,” he says.
He credits INSEAD with providing opportunities to network from an early stage. During his programme, he found friends from the Middle East, Poland, Serbia, and so on – regions and countries that heavily emphasise international trade.
These connections then provide low-entry barriers for trading opportunities, something new and fresh which Kuzyarawas believes that hs generation brings.
“We are all very young, but very ambitious,” he says. “In my opinion, this makes business, especially with other countries, much more efficient.”
Ultimately, Kuzyarawas credits his prowess at such a young age to his master’s. He believes that to truly stand out in a day and age where a bachelor’s degree is now the norm, a master’s degree is the answer.
“Education is very important. It’s not only about the skills you get, but the relationships that you build,” he advises. “Your bachelor’s specialisation doesn’t have to be too specific, but by the time you take a master’s, you’ll have it figured out – all will be fine!”
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