In 1998 – as acting chairman of the board of the insolvent Rostovsocbank,[2] he ensured the return of savings to all individual depositors of that bank.

[5] After leaving the banking sector, Shafirov pursued and successfully earned his master's and Ph.D. degrees from European and Canadian universities.

[6][circular reference] Sphere of scientific interests - self-build housing, consumer lending, management of household projects and portfolios of household projects at the municipal level, the social efficiency of lending to the individuals, and economic and financial literacy as factors of socio-economic development.

Filming took place in Gukovo, Rostov-on-Don, Novoshakhtinsk, Novocherkassk, Taganrog, Shakhty, Azov and Krasny Sulin.

To decrease social tension and non-payments in favor of clients - employees of coal-mining enterprises he suggested organizing of labor dispute commissions at trade-union committees for priority payments of wage claims in case of insufficient funds on employers' banking accounts.

[1] Because of this self-activity, he was forced to take a position of Acting Chairman of the Board of the insolvent OJSC Rostovsotsbank (Rostov-on-Don), the first commercial bank in the South of Russian Federation.

During 1998–1999, Shafirov with the support of the bank's staff without introducing the provisional administration of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, without financial support from the state and shareholders, carried out work on the recovery of problem loans, sale of assets, as a result providing the return of savings to all depositors - individuals in Rostov-on-Don, Taganrog, Shakhty, Donetsk (more than 150,000 depositors).

[28] Leonid Shafirov is the initiator and organizer of sociological research and expert discussions on the issues of self-build housing construction, gasification of housing, improvement of the order of formation and activities of municipal public chambers (councils), state economic policy on the recovery of single-industry towns and development of territories, vocational guidance, development of cross-border cooperation and activation of twin cities relations.