The Company of the Year National Award winners announced

The "Company of the Year" 2005 National Business Award ceremony was held in the Bolshoi Petrovsky Hall of the President-Hotel on December 1.

The "Company of the Year" Annual National Award is both a significant high society event in the country's business life and a public event which summarizes the business results for the year. It is no secret that in order to reach a higher level of existence it is essential for a company to participate in such prestigious competitions. This is borne out by the extraordinary popularity of all types of ratings and contests, the number of which grows every year. At this point, the "Company of the Year" is among the nation's most respected awards and is conferred on the brightest and most dynamic companies engaged in the manufacturing, service and financial sectors. It is not their successfulness throughout their existence that counts for the award, but the accomplishments made over the past year. Awards of such level are to some extent a touchstone that serves to prove a company's soundness, the efficiency of its marketing strategy for promoting its goods and services to the market, and the creative urge intrinsic to its projects. It has become apparent today, that the "Company of the Year" National Award grants its prizewinners another goodwill-building instrument and the opportunity to attract substantial investment.

According to Vladimir Tarachev, member of the Award Expert Council and State Duma deputy, "the "Company of the Year" may well be referred to as an award of awards. If you just look at the members of the expert council, prizewinners and those who present the awards, you'll see a host of the most famous people."

As is deemed suitable for one of the most important events held at the end of the year, the awards ceremony surpassed many parties in fashionable night clubs in lavishness, chic, and verve. By and large, the organizer of the award, the largest economic information supplier in Russia and the CIS, RBC, is renowned for its capacity of making a fascinating and absorbing show out of any official event. The ceremony was attended by several hundred guests. Scarcely any of the hall's 500 seats were vacant. Among the ceremony's guests were top businessmen, chief executives, internationally respected entrepreneurs, representatives of the mass media, , scientists, people from the arts, political figures and, of course, statesmen - ministers and Duma deputies. Most of these people are involved in determining the course of the nation.

This year, the award attracted 253 applications, the highest on record. Expert Council members confessed they were finding it ever more difficult to make a choice as they had to scrutinize the accomplishments of almost equal contenders. Year after year, competition grows fiercer, and victory more prestigious. The award's status is improving, and it is fast becoming a serious indicator for investors evaluating the company. This year, the best companies numbered 46, with 23 of them in the main categories, and 23 in special categories.

The festivities opened with an improvised parade of girls dressed in bright grenadier costumes marching snappily to the beat of a drum. The female guards wearing bearskin caps and short skirts flew banners with the award's motto inscribed on it "Find yourself among the best". Key politicians and businessmen were then invited in turn onto the stage to congratulate the prizewinners. Such famous public and political figures as Andrei Sharonov, Arkady Dvorkovich, Alexander Yakovenko, Arkady Volsky, Sergei Glazyev, Genri Reznik, Sergei Baburin and many more were among those who presented the awards.

According to the honored guests, since its launch seven years ago the "Company of the Year" has evolved into a most reputable Russian brand. The award has not only been showing the best companies as an example for Russian business, it has also been working on a new image of Russian business and promoting new standards of business ethics since the late 1990s. The award's relevance can be borne out by its being held under the auspices of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia. Alongside this, prizewinners are also granted the status of a "priority enterprise for investment projects". Meanwhile, the lights were turned off time and again in the hall, and to the sound of music the logos of nominee companies were displayed on the screen in turn, of which one, the winner's logo, remained and grew brighter.

Lawyer Pavel Astakhov joked that the award recipients were not winners, but "survivors". "If a company makes a profit, it needs support like never before. You see, even the President is talking about taxation terror. Business is not developing, small businesses are afraid of expanding. So in a broad sense, even those which have managed to survive under such conditions deserve to be rewarded, and those who have succeeded are contenders for this award."

However, the "survivors" seemed very optimistic. "May we ask our winners to raise their corporate banners boldly and set their targets on a global scale". Hosts Ilona Bronevitskaya and Stas Pyekha encouraged the winners to hoist their flags on a large globe identical to that on the Company of the Year award logo. This was symbolic to a certain extent, as all Russian companies feel more confident on foreign markets and are struggling to win over Russian consumers alongside their foreign competitors. In 2004, the "Company of the Year" was assigned the status of an international award, as international companies operating on the Russian market joined the competition seeking the title of "best company". So today the award's logo shaped as the globe is well known both in Russia and abroad.

Many prizewinners said they hoped for good results in the coming year as well, and hoped they would be able to qualify for the status of the best. Among others the hope was voiced by President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin: "We regard this as the most prestigious award. We have received many offers to participate in contests of all kinds, but our only choice was this competition, as we trust in the impartiality and efficiency of its organizers."

The participants' optimism is understandable, for the Company of the Year award is not merely an acknowledgement of a company's success. The award, as Sergei Glazyev phrased it shrewdly, "enables judgments to be made on goodwill, which is a determining factor for business growth and raising investment". A good name is more desirable than riches, as they say.

On the whole, the "Company of the Year" is much praised for its contemporariness. The award is renowned for always meeting challenges of and mirroring the most significant development trends in Russian business. It is a chronicle of the nation's economic history. Five years ago it was those companies which managed to overcome the crisis without losses that were honored. Three years ago it was companies that were developing the fastest whilst consistently consolidating their business. Last year, the award honored companies that were commendably introducing international standards of business practices. This year, the goodwill factor became the most important indicator of a company's growth. What will the coming year bring? The award is always looking forward, improving and unveiling new perspectives. Yet, as prizewinner, President of MIRAX GROUP Sergei Polonsky put it, "the "Company of the Year" has developed such a good reputation for quality, that it is hard to envisage it developing any further: it is perfect. How can it possibly be improved further, given that it has already reached such a pinnacle?"