A ceremony of awarding winners of the Person of the Year 2003 Award took place in the Patriarch Chamber in the Moscow Kremlin on February 25.

According to the information agency RosBusinessConsulting, which is the founder of the award, it is aimed at attracting the public's attention to positive tendencies in the country's development, promote the formation of an attractive image of Russian businesses and the state and advance Russia's integration into the world community.

Those who are considered to be the Russian elite gathered in the Patriarch's Chamber that evening. Awards were given to the winners by prominent pediatrician Leonid Roshal, NTV General Director Nikolay Senkevich, Central Bank Senior Deputy Chairman Tatiana Paramonova, singer and Duma deputy Iosif Kobzon.

The expert council of the award named Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Kudrin the Person of the Year in politics. Russian Presidential Aide Sergey Yastrzhembsky became the winner in the nomination State Management. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov was acknowledged the best regional leader.

Sergey Yastrzhembsky was not able to attend the ceremony. His speech was video recorded and played at the ceremony. "It is always pleasant to receive public awards. Especially those associated with successful and progressive brands. RBC is among them," the president's aide stressed.

There was an additional intrigue in announcing the list of winners. "It is necessary to admit that some businessmen refused to be included on the list of business nominations this year. It looks like Russian businessmen have became much more modest after current events. However, we sincerely hope that our business heroes will have no reason to stay in the shadows in 2004," ceremony host Larisa Verbitskaya commented on this situation.

This year Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Lev Khasis, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Perekriostok Trading House, risked "coming out of the shadows." They became the winners in the category Businessman of the Year.

Krost Concern General Director Alexey Dobashin was named the entrepreneur of the year. Marat Ainetdinov, the General Director of the insurance company Rossiya, and Aeroflot Russian Airlines General Director Valery Okulov became the winners in the nomination Top Manager of the Year.

Mikhail Barshchevsky, the envoy of the Russian government in the Constitutional, Supreme and Supreme Arbitration Courts, shared his opinion about his work in the expert council with guests. "We have gotten used to the situation recently that we in fact have no choice. Everything is decided beforehand and it is just necessary to vote. This is what I felt when I started working as a member of the expert council, however, it turned out that there was a choice and it was pretty broad."

Just one winner avoided the complicate selection process. Martell Cognac House, the general sponsor of the ceremony, established its own award For Regarding Business as Art. The winner was Mikhail Kusnirovich, the President of Bosco di Ciliegi.

The culmination of the event was the announcement of the winners of the Grand Prix of the Person of the Year 2003 Award. There were three of them. Russian Central Election Commission Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov was awarded for his personal contribution to developing Russian democracy. Transnefteprodukt President Sergey Maslov for his professionalism and innovations in the sphere of developing the Russian oil products transportation sector. Krasnodar regional governor Alexander Tkachyov for his personal contribution in developing Russia's political system.

Speeches of the winners were short. Alexander Veshnyakov called on everybody to actively participate in the upcoming presidential elections. Alexander Tkachyov urged everybody to visit recreational facilities in the Krasnodar region. And Sergey Maslov just thanked everybody.

The winners of the Person of the Year 2003 Award.

GRAND PRIX

Alexander Veshnyakov, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation
Sergey Maslov, the President of Transnefteprodukt
Alexander Tkachyov, the Governor of the Krasnodar Region

Public and political sphere

Alexey Kudrin, the Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister of the Russian Federation
Sergey Yastrzhembsky, Presidential Aide
Yury Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow
Anatoly Iksanov, the General Director of the Bolshoi Theater
Vitaly Ginzburg, the academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Nobel Prize laureate
Vladimir Yakovlev, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
Alexander Borisov, the General Director of the Moscow International Business Association
Nikita Kirichenko, journalist (posthumously)

In the sphere of business

Alexey Miller, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Gazprom
Lev Khasis, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Perekriostok Trading House
Alexey Dobashin, the General Director of the Krost Concern
Marat Ainetdinov, the General Director of the insurance company Rossiya
Valery Okulov, the General Director of Aeroflot Russian Airlines
Alexander Popov, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Rosbank
Ruben Vardanian, the President of Troika Dialog
Oleg Tinkov, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tinkoff
Grigory Gurevich, the President of Nobel Oil Company
Yevgeny Chichvarkin, the Executive of Euroset Company
Vladimir Busygin, the General Director of Nizhnekamskneftekhim
Alexey Golubkov, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Shipbuilding Bank

Special nominations

Ivan Sergeyev, the head of the Main Industrial and Commercial Department of Services for the Diplomatic Corps of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Alexander Kandel, the General Director of Aton Capital
Konstantin Zolotukhin, the General Director of SpetsVysotStroy
Viktor Balala, the Justice Minister of the Republic of Transnistria
Veronika Borovik-Khilchevskaya, the President of the holding Sovershenno Sekretno [Top Secret]
Dmitry Bakatin, the General Director of the Sputnik Group, Vice President of the charity fund for cadet corps named after Alexey Yordan
Farkhad Akhmetov, the President of Nortgaz
Timur Timerbulatov, the President of the KONTI Group
Gennady Sklyar, the General Director of the federal state enterprise Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network
Vladimir Kovalsky, the President of the chain of dental clinics Masterdent
Alexey Kobtsev, the General Director of the agricultural and industrial holding Rusagrokapital