Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed during a documentary that was reported on by state-run news agency RIA Novosti over the weekend that he used to be a taxi driver to earn extra money after the fall of communist Russia.

“After all, what is the collapse of the Soviet Union? This is the collapse of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union,” Putin said, calling the collapse “the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century.”

The Moscow Times reported: The end of the Union brought with it a period of intense economic instability that plunged many into poverty, as newly independent Russia transitioned from communism to capitalism.  RIA Novosti, reporting from excerpts of the documentary, said Putin had revealed that he worked occasionally as a taxi driver to boost his income.