Unexpected Arvydas Avulis Interview: A Gun by the Bed and a €20 Million Risk: “The Pleasure Was Average”

Today, Arvydas Avulis is regarded as one of Lithuania’s most successful entrepreneurs, whose real estate developments have significantly reshaped the skyline of Vilnius. Yet the businessman admits there was a time when he went six months without earning a single cent, had to live under personal protection, and made business decisions that involved millions of euros, according to a press release issued by PROFITUS.

In the Conversations About Money podcast, hosted by PROFITUS Marketing Manager Miglė Grybinienė, the founder of real estate development company Hanner spoke about his path to success, his biggest business failures, a hotel project in Venice, and his dream of building in Lithuania a landmark inspired by one of the world’s most iconic architectural masterpieces.

“It Was the Hardest Period of My Life”

Today, A. Avulis can afford to undertake projects worth tens of millions of euros, but success did not come easily. After Lithuania regained its independence, there were plenty of opportunities to start a business, but one crucial element was missing - experience. As A. Avulis recalls, his first attempts ended in one failure after another.

According to him, that period was one of the most difficult in his life. At the same time, it was precisely these challenges that helped develop the quality without which surviving in business would have been impossible – perseverance.

“Imagine going six months without earning anything. I was completely in the red, but you still need to eat every day. It wasn’t as if I had capital to build a business with. You had to work with whatever you had – if you had something, you moved forward; if you didn’t, you simply couldn’t. It was the hardest period of my life and required enormous resilience. It’s difficult not to give up when nothing goes your way. Eventually, you start thinking you’re a failure, so the important thing is not to surrender to those thoughts,” says A. Avulis.

Sleeping with a Gun Nearby

However, the long-awaited success also brought new challenges. Looking back today, they seem almost unimaginable. In Lithuania during the 1990s, a growing business often attracted the attention of criminal groups – and A. Avulis was no exception.

“When your business isn’t doing well, nobody pays attention to you. But once things start going well, very quickly someone shows up saying, ‘Life isn’t very safe these days, but we can guarantee your security – for a price.’ I told them I wasn’t going to pay and that I would take care of my own security,” he recalls.

Asked whether the extortionists simply left him alone after that, A. Avulis smiles.

“Of course they didn’t back off that easily. When the threat became real, I found people who worked in state security and could protect me. They worked one day on duty and had two days off. On their official shifts they were protecting the Prime Minister, and on their days off they were protecting me,” the businessman recalls, adding that one of the security officers even lived in his home.

“We had a separate room where he lived and slept. I also kept a gun for self-defence. To be honest, it’s not much of a life when you always know there’s a bodyguard living in your house and a gun beside your bed. The pleasure was… average,” says A. Avulis.

Deciding to Risk €20 Million

After overcoming numerous challenges, A. Avulis became far more resilient in business, and with that came a different attitude toward risk. According to him, he now understands that success in business is not about avoiding risk but about learning how to assess it properly. That mindset eventually led him to one of his most ambitious projects – a hotel in Venice.

“A couple of years ago, I received an offer to build a hotel in Venice. It sounds impressive, but just purchasing the land and obtaining the construction permit required an investment of €20 million. At that point, my experience of doing business in Italy was exactly zero. Everything I knew about the country came from mafia movies, so I definitely had my doubts,” he says with a smile.

Despite those doubts, A. Avulis moved forward. Today, his hotel in Venice is already welcoming guests. Asked how he makes decisions when such large sums of money are at stake, he says he always asks himself one key question first. In his view, the same principle applies not only to business but to any major decision in life – you need to consider whether you are prepared to accept the worst possible outcome.

“My logic was simple: would losing €20 million hurt me beyond recovery, or wouldn’t it? I decided to take the risk and move forward. The hotel is now open, which means I didn’t lose the money – everything worked out,” says A. Avulis, adding that today he is motivated less by making money and more by projects that push him beyond his comfort zone and challenge him in new ways.

During the conversation, A. Avulis also reflected on what he considers the biggest failure of his career – the demolition of a shopping centre in Kyiv. How did he recover from such a setback, and why does he now describe it as one of the most valuable lessons of his life?

One Dream Still Unfulfilled

Despite an already impressive list of completed projects, A. Avulis does not consider his work finished. During the podcast, he admitted that he dreams of one day seeing a building in Lithuania comparable to one of the world’s most iconic architectural landmarks – Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands.

“In my opinion, it’s the most impressive building in the world, and I would love to see something similar built in Lithuania one day,” says A. Avulis.

“Although, of course, our winters are much colder, so the swimming pool would probably turn into an ice rink,” he adds with a laugh.