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

Prominent state and public persons, representatives of the Russian business elite, members of an expert council and nominees of the award gathered in this historic hall for an annual ceremony.

According to RosBusinessConsulting (RBC) , the organizer of the award, Person of the Year is a person who represents an important tendency in the country's development and forms the future of Russia. A competent expert council, which includes prominent public leaders, representatives of state management, the heads of Russian companies and mass media sources, defines persons who during a year conducted themselves most brightly in serving to Russia's public, political and state interests.

The Person of the Year Award is based on a principle of innovation, which is unique for such projects. That is why there may be several winners of main awards and nominations. This year, the Grand Prix and the Glory of Russia Order were given to Russian Central Election Commission Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov for his personal contribution to developing Russian democracy, Transnefteproduct President Sergey Maslov for professionalism and innovations in the sphere of developing the Russian oil product transportation sector and Krasnodar regional governor Alexander Tkachyov for his personal contribution to developing Russia's political system.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin became 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 named the Regional Leader.

The expert council named Bolshoi Theater General Director Anatoly Iksanov the Person of the Year in the sphere of culture and Nobel Prize laureate Vitaly Ginzburg, the academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Person of the Year in the sphere of science.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Yakovlev won the nomination the Carrier of the Year.

Journalist Nikita Kirichenko was posthumously named the Person of the Year in the sphere of mass media for his contribution to developing business journalism in Russia.

The expert council named Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Lev Khasis, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the trading house Perekriostok, the businessmen of the year.

The winners of the nomination Top Manager were Marat Ainetdinov, the General Director of the insurance company Rossiya, and Aeroflot Russian Airlines General Director Valery Okulov.

The expert council awarded Veronika Borovik-Khilchevskaya, the President of the holding Sovershenno Sekretno (Top Secret), for her adherence to journalist traditions and support to independent journalism in Russia.

"The victory in this nomination is especially important for me. It is nice that our work, activities of the whole holding Sovershenno Sekretno were evaluated so high. It means that everything we are doing is not in vain", Ms. Borovik-Khilchevskaya said.

On the whole there were more than 30 winners of the Person of the Year 2003 Award.

The ceremony in the Patriarch Chamber in the Kremlin was traditionally finished by taking a collective picture of the winners.

- Leonid Roketsky and Mikhail Barshchevsky are giving a diploma of the winner of the Person of the Year Award 2003 in the nomination For the Adherence to Journalist Traditions to Veronika Borovik-Khilchevskaya, the President of the holding Sovershenno Sekretno.

Yelena Tsygankova