Kommersant, 31 may 2002

On May 14, the Financial Press Club of Russia held a ceremony of awarding the most transparent and non-transparent companies of the year regarding providing information. The ceremony took place in the Metropol Hotel. 'The Golden Diplomas' of the competition, which was conducted according to the Chiaroscuro monthly rating, were awarded in five nominations. Another five 'anti-nominees' got 'Golden Cactuses'. The Club also awarded special diplomas to the companies, which, according to it, had contributed to the forming of the civilized business community in this country most of all.

It is a common knowledge that the one who owns information, owns the world. That is why equal access to information is one of the main peculiarities of a democratic, civil society. Unfortunately, this principle is not frequently adopted in Russia.

This fact was once again confirmed by the ceremony organized by the Financial Press Club of Russia where the most 'outstanding' Russian companies regarding information transparency, had been awarded. The Club commemorated the companies, which were 'outstanding' both in the positive and in the negative meanings of the word. 'Succulents', or, bluntly speaking, cactuses were awarded to the giants of Russian business, which had created a zone of informational 'drought' around them. The main criterion for the selection was the equal accessibility to information for all mass media, not just for some of its representatives, which were confidants to companies.

From this viewpoint, the position of the Federal Commission for the Securities Market, which created a Corporate Governance Code, is very close to the Club. Shareholders, big and small, majority and minority, must have equal rights and opportunities to receive information about a company, the Code says. In the opinion of the Club, this right must be granted to journalists, too, no matter if they are representatives of leading Moscow periodicals or small local newspapers. Meanwhile, some companies are of a different opinion and act to their own advantage, not to the society's. The Corporate Governance Code actively protects both the public and journalists. The competent activities of the press service of the Commission for the Securities Market contributed greatly to the increase of the transparency of public companies. That is why the diploma awarded to the Commission, is really 'Golden'.

The most transparent organizations won 'Golden Diplomas' made of pure golden bars. They are the Agency for Restructuring Credit Organizations (ARKO), the ROSNO insurance company, the NIKoil financial corporation, the Bank of Moscow and East Line Airlines.

The heads of ARKO and ROSNO got 'the club's gold' for a third time. This consistency of journalists' likes is much due to the high professionalism of those who lead the press services of these companies - Alexander Voznesensky and Vladimir Kleimenov.

East Line Airlines won the contest for the information transparency of their business among a large number of candidates from the real sector of the economy.

Special diplomas were awarded to such reliable mass media as the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, the Russian Focus magazine and Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The RosBusinessConsulting agency got a diploma for its successful entering the stock market, which had clearly demonstrated the close connection between information transparency and financial success. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs was awarded a diploma of the Club for the Media Socium project. Aeroflot Airlines won in the nomination of overcoming the credibility gap. The RusAl (Russian Aluminum) company got a special award for the support of charity projects in culture and sports. It is hard to argue with the opinion of head of the aluminum giant Oleg Deripaska who believes that "the investments in culture and sports contribute to the development of Russia". The most transparent law enforcement authority is the General Prosecution Office of the Russian Federation. The press service of this institution headed by Leonid Troshin, was skillfully maneuvering between the flows of negative and positive information in the mass media and obtained the leading position in the Chiaroscuro rating. The Audit Chamber of Russia was awarded a special diploma for active contribution to the increase in the transparency of the economy of the country. We are glad that the opinion of the Russian journalist community regarding the transparency of the Audit Chamber was supported by the world community, and for the next three years Sergey Stepashin will be the head of European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), which is a union of the supreme financial control authorities of 42 countries.

And once again - our congratulations to the winners. But we should remind them that neither laurels nor cactuses are forever in this world: The Council of the Financial Press Club

Unfortunately, there were no representatives of non-transparent structures at the ceremony. In 2001, journalists granted this status to Gazprom, RAO UES, the Siberian-Ural Aluminum Holding (SUAL), Vneshekonombank and the Norilsk Nickel Mining and Metallurgical Company. These companies were to receive 'Golden Cactuses' as a symbol of their 'prickliness' and unfriendliness to mass media.

Well-known public figures, politician and businessmen visited the ceremony. Among them were Chairman of the Federal Commission for the Securities Market Igor Kostikov, Chairman of the Federation Council committee for financial markets Sergey Vasilyev, Chairman of the State Duma committee for property Viktor Pleskachevsky, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma committee for banking Vladimir Tarachyov, Federation Council member Ilya Lomakin-Rumyantsev, Deputy President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Viktor Dombrovsky, ARKO General Director Alexander Turbanov, Aeroflot General Director Valery Okulov, Deputy Communication Minister of Russia Andrey Korotkov, Executive Vice President of the Association of Russian Banks Vyacheslav Zakharov, President of the Association of Regional Banks of Russia Alexander Murychev, head of the office of the Russian Audit Chamber Mstislav Afanasyev, Acting Chairman of the Executive Board of the National Association of Stock Market Participants (NUFOR) Yelena Mashkova, General Director of the Moscow International Business Association (MMBA) Alexander Borisov and General Director of the Center TV company Pavel Kasparov.