A gala awards ceremony for the Person of the Year annual national prize established by RosBusinessConsulting Information Agency was held in the Moscow Kremlin's Patriarch's Chambers on February 15. The accolade is granted to businessmen and public and political figures representing Russia's most important development trends.

The public has to have ideals and be aware of its men of great mark. Unfortunately, our nation has not always been willing to recognize the value of a single person and his or her identity. The maxim "no one is indispensable" itself explains a lot. Unlike the old days, initiative is now one of major drivers in social development. But how can one evaluate a personal contribution to a corporation or even a region? It is easy to get lost nowadays in a world of various awards. "It's not surprising that the public has grown disappointed of awards as such," Igor Bunin, General Director of the Center for Political Technologies, an independent think tank, said on the verge of the awards ceremony. "The awards not subject to skepticism may be counted on one hand, and these include the Award of the Year. RBC is lucky to have its award presented to the country's best people in the Kremlin. And if you look at the guests, they are all the nation's elite." Arkady Dvorkovich, head of the President's Expert Department, agreed with these words, adding: "The people now mounting the stage for the award are true leaders, they are and will be determining the country's policy and development for many years to come."

Many famous Russian and foreign businessmen were invited to the awards ceremony in the Kremlin, as well as distinguished statesmen and public figures, including Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov; Information Technology and Communications Minister Leonid Reyman; State Duma Deputy Vladimir Tarachev; producer Konstantin Ernst; David Yakobashvili, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wimm-Bill-Dann; President of Rostik Group Rostislav Ordovsky-Tanayevsky Blanco; Viktor Gerashchenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of YUKOS; designer Yelena Yermak, Dmitry Mezentsev, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council; Tatyana Paramonova, First Deputy Chairperson of the Central Bank of Russia; Mikhail Barshchevsky, Governmental Envoy to the Constitutional, Supreme and Supreme Arbitration Courts, and many other notable political figures, businessmen and people of the world of arts.

The two eras, the glorious past and the promising present, seemed to be merging before the guests. Both people who have dedicated years to their trade, and those who are just coming up to replace them were distinguished with awards. For instance, Yury Zhdanov, head of the Federal Agency for Managing Special Economic Zones, (awarded as the Person in State Administration) extended his warm thanks to another winner, Vladimir Resin, mentioning: "Vladimir Iosifovich gave me an impetus on my career in construction, and as a result I have had three promotions over the last year."

As usual, winners of the politics and society award were the first to be announced, then it was the turn of business and the Grand Prix awards. This year, four people were honored with the supreme trophy and the Order of the Glory of Russia: Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, Information Technology and Communications Minister Leonid Reyman, Deputy Mayor of Moscow Vladimir Resin, and Nikolai Tsvetkov, President of Uralsib Financial Corporation.

Over the five years since it was established, the Person of the Year has grown into a prestigious competition acknowledged not only in Russia but also abroad. The award has stepped beyond national boundaries, and not only Russians may contend for it. Everyone who has accomplished something for the sake of Russia may be designated Person of the Year by the independent Expert Council. This year, two foreigners were recognized, General Director of Auchan Russia Patrick Longuet (in the Businessmen of the Year category) and President of TNK-BP Robert Dudley (in the special Foreign Top Manager in Russia category). In his acceptance speech, Longuet noted that his company's mission was to "boost Russians' purchasing power" and promised that this coming year Auchan would open its stores in Russia's regions. Robert Dudley was awarded "for adapting international best practices to Russia's business environment". He stated: "A few years ago when our company emerged, no one could say what would come out of it. And now we are showing excellent results for the industry.

The ceremony's guests were surprised to learn that the Person of the Year in Politics category was left vacant for the first time ever. However, Dmitry Mezentsev found the words to soothe the public: "…statesmen have not been neglected, as two Grand Prix of the four have been conferred on government members, which means that the people vested with power have really been working for the good of the country's economy and stability."

Political and society awards were granted to Yury Zhdanov, head of the Federal Agency for Managing Special Economic Zones; Dmitry Zelenin, Governor of the Tver region; journalist Vladimir Solovyov; Rector of St. Petersburg University Lyudmila Verbitskaya; Sergei Litovchenko, CEO of the Managers' Association; General Director of Channel One Konstantin Ernst and Igor Moiseyev, the People's Artist of the USSR.

All in all, 37 people were favored with the awards. The key criteria guiding the Expert Council was a candidate's innovative activities, his or her special achievements or specific personal or professional qualities, as well as the significance of the personal contribution to the development of a company, an industry or the country. Typically, many winners perceived the award solely as a sign of attention to their sphere of activities. Thus, Professor Konstantin Anokhin, winner in the special Potential and Prospects in Science category, said he regarded the award primarily as support of the Russian tradition of fundamental research, while Vladimir Vidorchik, head of the Medincenter branch of the Main Administration for Services to the Diplomatic Corps of the Russian Foreign Ministry (praised for contributing to the nation's healthcare) said that the recognition of his personal accomplishment was not so pleasing as the fact that in his eyes the award highlighted the significance of Russian national medicine.