Staviski began skating at the age of four because his parents wanted to improve his health. He was initially a singles skater but at the age of 11 or 12, he broke his leg and his jumping ability declined. His coach recommended him to Natalia Dubova's ice dancing group. He originally competed for Russia with Anastasia Belova, with whom he appeared as the third Russian team at the 1996 Junior Worlds but they split up at the end of the season. In 1996, Staviski had a successful tryout with Albena Denkova in Moscow and he moved to Sofia to compete for Bulgaria. They soon became a couple off-ice, as well. Staviski received Bulgarian citizenship, allowing him to compete with Denkova at the 1998 Olympics. In September 2000, Denkova / Staviski began dividing their time between Sofia and Odintsovo, near Moscow, Russia where they worked with coach Alexei Gorshkov and choreographer Sergei Petukhov.