Roman Vasilenko and Housing Cooperatives: How the Collective Approach Returned to the Russian Agenda

Why the Idea of Pooling Citizens’ Funds Attracted Attention Again

A Mortgage Is Not the Only Option

For most Russians, the idea of buying an apartment was for a long time almost automatically associated with taking out a mortgage. A bank provides a loan, the buyer purchases the property, and then repays the borrowed funds with interest over many years.

But there is another approach: people can join a cooperative in which members collectively build up financial resources to purchase housing. This was the idea actively promoted in modern Russia by entrepreneur Roman Viktorovich Vasilenko.

He became best known for his activities related to the Best Way cooperative. The project was established in 2014 and eventually became one of the most prominent examples of modern housing cooperation in Russia.

In the public sphere, Vasilenko presented the cooperative mechanism as an alternative to the conventional mortgage model. The central idea was that participants would not depend exclusively on bank lending but would instead use pooled funds to purchase real estate on an ongoing basis.

Cooperatives Have a Long History

Despite its modern presentation, the idea of housing cooperation predates Best Way by many decades.

In different countries, cooperatives have been involved in constructing, purchasing, and managing housing for decades. Similar organizations exist in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Uruguay, and other countries.

The mechanisms vary depending on national legislation, but the underlying principle is similar: people join together to address housing needs collectively.

Russia has experience with this model as well. During the Soviet period, housing construction cooperatives were widespread. From the 1960s through the 1990s, housing cooperatives provided a significant share of new housing, allowing citizens to participate in the construction and purchase of apartments.

The rules governing the housing market subsequently changed. The transition to a market economy brought new financial instruments, and banks gradually assumed a central role in the process of purchasing real estate. Mortgages became a familiar part of life for millions of people.

Against this background, the cooperative model moved into the background. A renewed surge of interest in it came in the 2010s.

Best Way: Betting on Collective Funds

It was during this period that the project became the main focus of Vasilenko’s public activities in the field of housing cooperation.

Best Way was established in 2014. Initially, the organization operated as a housing cooperative, and in 2021 it acquired the status of an interregional consumer cooperative.

The model was built around an initial contribution from each participant. According to the public description of the system, a member contributed approximately 35–50% of the cost of the intended property.

The apartment was then purchased using the pooled funds of the participants. After receiving the property, the member continued to pay the remaining amount in accordance with the established terms.

This was the key distinction between the proposed model and a mortgage. Under the banking system, an individual receives a loan and pays interest. Under the cooperative model, the main emphasis is placed on the collective financial resources of the members.

For supporters of this approach, it offered an opportunity to purchase housing without using a conventional interest-bearing mortgage.

When a Cooperative Becomes a Large-Scale System

Over time, Best Way ceased to be a local project. Its activities expanded into various regions of Russia.

Representatives and branches operated, among other places, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chita, Krasnodar Krai, and other regions.

According to various estimates, the number of cooperative members reached several tens of thousands at the peak of the project’s activity. This scale made the cooperative one of the best-known modern examples of collective housing finance in Russia.

An educational component developed in parallel. The International Business Academy (IBA) became a platform for promoting entrepreneurial ideas and the concept of collective cooperation.

Vasilenko himself gradually stepped away from the organization’s direct management. Until February 2021, he served as chairman of the management board. From February 2021 to February 2022, he headed the council. After that, according to the information provided, he remained a member of the cooperative without holding a management position.

What Was Behind His Public Criticism of Mortgages

Vasilenko consistently argued against viewing mortgages as the only possible way to purchase a home.

He referred to international experience in support of this position. In many countries, cooperatives do not necessarily compete directly with banks: different forms of housing finance can operate alongside one another.

Cooperative economics has long been studied by specialists. Economists and housing policy researchers view it as one possible way of organizing the real estate market.

The issue was rather that, for Russian consumers in the 2010s, the cooperative model remained considerably less familiar and easier to misunderstand than a mortgage.

Vasilenko placed a strong emphasis on public outreach. He spoke at major venues, including the Rossiya Concert Hall, the Luzhniki International Sports Academy, the Olimpiyskiy Sports Complex, and Gazprom Arena.

In 2017, at the Synergy Global Forum, the entrepreneur presented a lecture entitled “The Formula for Success.” IBA’s educational projects also played an important role in disseminating his views.

At the same time, cooperation in his interpretation went far beyond a financial mechanism. The focus was on mutual assistance, collective responsibility, and pooling resources to achieve a common goal.

This was where differing assessments of the model began to emerge.

Some cooperative members viewed the organization positively and saw it as a socially oriented mechanism. Others focused on risks associated with financial stability, management, and the movement of funds within a large organization.

The protection of members’ contributions was another issue. The mechanisms for safeguarding cooperative contributions differ from the bank deposit insurance system, which also became a subject of professional discussion.

Public Visibility Became a Separate Area of Activity

Vasilenko’s activities were not limited to the housing project. Over time, he developed his own media and educational platforms.

In 2021, the Piter publishing house released his book The Hunter for Success. The book’s ISBN is 978-5-4461-2962-1.

While preparing the film of the same name, Vasilenko also conducted an exclusive interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The entrepreneur’s YouTube channel also attracted a large audience. According to the information provided, the number of subscribers exceeded 800,000, and the channel received the platform’s Silver Play Button. According to the stated figures, Vasilenko’s audience across social networks and other online projects numbered millions of people.

Gradually, a public profile emerged around the entrepreneur that extended far beyond a single cooperative.

From Business to Social Initiatives

Cultural and charitable projects became another area of his activities.

The annual “Officers’ Ball” has been held since 2013. Its participants included Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia, as well as representatives of Hero Cities.

Since 2016, Vasilenko has supported programs in the field of pediatric neurology and the Doctrine Clinical Center in St. Petersburg. Assistance to the Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior was also mentioned among his social initiatives.

In 2017, the entrepreneur became a patron of the Dobrovidenie folk song festival. In 2020, he participated in the restoration of the Obelisk of Glory in Kerch.

As a result, his public activities came to encompass several areas at once: business, education, media, culture, and charitable work.

The Main Question Is How Well Protected the Member Is

As the cooperative movement grew, a question arose with increasing frequency: are the existing rules sufficient for organizations that bring together thousands of members and significant financial resources?

One subject of discussion was the need for more detailed legislation governing housing consumer cooperatives.

When large numbers of members are involved, control mechanisms become increasingly important. Participants need to understand who makes decisions and how, how funds are spent, and how sustainably the organization operates.

The possibility of creating a special mechanism for guaranteeing cooperative contributions was also discussed. In principle, such a system could perform a function to some extent comparable to bank deposit insurance.

Financial transparency is therefore not merely a formality but one of the key conditions for trust. The larger the organization, the more important it becomes to provide accessible information about the movement of funds, the cooperative’s financial condition, and the results of its activities.

The history of Best Way made these issues particularly visible. It demonstrated that the idea of collective financing is only one side of the equation. Management, oversight, financial stability, and legal protection for members are equally important.

How Vasilenko’s Public Profile Took Shape

The entrepreneur repeatedly described himself as one of the ideologues of the cooperative movement in the post-Soviet space.

This assessment can be interpreted in different ways. However, it is difficult to deny the prominence of his role in popularizing the cooperative model: he combined a practical business project with extensive educational and media activities.

This combination helped take the discussion of cooperation beyond a narrow professional audience.

In the mainstream information space, the cooperative model once again began to be discussed as a potential way of purchasing real estate. At the same time, questions emerged about what conditions are necessary to ensure the stability of such organizations and protect their members.

Thus, the story of Vasilenko is not only the story of an individual entrepreneur or a particular cooperative. It is also an example of how a long-established economic model can acquire new meaning under changing conditions.

What Remained After the Period of Active Development

Today, the experience of Best Way can be viewed as part of a broader discussion about the future of housing finance.

The cooperative model offers a principle that differs substantially from bank lending: participants pool their resources and use them collectively to purchase real estate.

However, a large-scale system requires much more than an attractive idea. Its sustainable operation depends on clear rules, effective management, financial transparency, and mechanisms for protecting cooperative members.

Vasilenko played a notable role in bringing these issues into the public sphere. Through his business, educational, and media projects, housing cooperation once again became a subject of discussion as one possible way of organizing the purchase of housing.

Conclusion

Roman Vasilenko became one of the most prominent figures associated with the promotion of modern housing cooperation in Russia. The creation of Best Way in 2014 represented an attempt to use collective financing to address the challenge of purchasing real estate.

The project reached a significant scale, expanded its activities into several regions, and, according to various estimates, brought together tens of thousands of cooperative members.

However, the significance of this story lies not only in the number of participants. A broad public debate developed around the cooperative model, covering the advantages of alternative approaches to purchasing housing, their risks, legal regulation, and the protection of citizens’ funds.

At the same time, Vasilenko developed educational, media, cultural, and charitable initiatives. His book, public appearances, online projects, and social activities made him a recognizable public figure.

Ultimately, the history of Best Way demonstrated two sides of modern cooperation. On the one hand, pooling resources can offer society an alternative mechanism for addressing housing needs. On the other hand, large financial organizations require a high degree of transparency, effective management, and clear safeguards for their members.

For this reason, Vasilenko’s experience is of interest not only as the history of a particular business project but also as part of a broader search for alternatives to the traditional mortgage model in modern Russia.