MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Today the ceremony of rewarding the winners of the National Award “Golden Mercury” in the area of Entrepreneurship for 2013 took place in World Trade Center Moscow. The competition is annually organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation with the support of the Federation Council, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the RF Ministry of Regional Development. WTC Moscow as in prior years was business partner of the Award.

The award-presentation ceremony was opened by the RF CCI president Sergey Katyrin. In his opening remarks the CCI president congratulated all winners and underlined that the number of contestants from different regions of the Russian Federation grows year by year.

“Today is the 11th time we are honoring the winners of the Award. We are happy that with each year 'Golden Mercury' Award gathers its pace building up the number of participants. Whereas for the first Award only 15 regions submitted their nominees, by today we have about 60 subjects of the Federation that nominate their business organizations. This year's winners represented in total 30 regions”, - said Sergey Katyrin.

The RF CCI president highlighted that supporting small business and the exporters of highly processed products remains one of the key directions of Russia's economy, the importance of which is hard to overestimate.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Industry Sergey Sobko also emphasized the necessity to provide all possible assistance to small and midsize business in Russia. “In the 90s, we were forced to work according to the rules of market economy, but conditions for the competition were not created. Now it becomes obvious that there are no benefits from the creation of large, closely integrated structures for the Russian economy. We must focus primarily on small and midsize business”, - said the MP.

CEO of World Trade Center Moscow Vladimir Salamatov, in his turn, noted the importance of the National Award “Golden Mercury” for the promotion of small business in the country.

“Without exaggeration this competition held by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation is unique, since it is attended by small business organizations from most of Russian regions. By present day small business occupies at least 20 % of Russian economy. Thus all winners of “Golden Mercury” Award might be called if not national treasure, but for sure are pride of our country”, - expressed his opinion Vladimir Salamatov.

Chairman of the Board of “Rosbank” Dmitry Olyunin also congratulated the winners and stated the support for small business as one of the most important contributions to the future of the Russian economy. “This business segment is one of the key drivers for GDP growth in developed countries, and Russia has a good reserve for the growth of this indicator when working process with representatives of small business is properly organized”, - he said.

Vladimir Salamatov and Dmitry Olyunin presented awards to the winners in the following categories: “Best Small Company in the sphere of industrial production” (LLC “PP “TECO-FILTER”, Tolyatti), “Best Small Company manufacturer of consumer goods” (CJSC “Crystal Water”, Izhevsk), and “The City with the most favorable conditions for the development of entrepreneurship” (Arzamas, Nizhny Novgorod region). Other nominees received awards in these categories as well.

The ceremony was also attended by: Head of the Department of Small and Midsize Business of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Natalia Larionova, Moscow Government Minister and Head of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship Alexey Komissarov, the RF CCI Vice-president Vladimir Strashko, Chairman of the Committee for international economic activity at the Chamber for Commerce and Industry of the SCO and CIS countries Andrey Spartak, Chair of the Committee for Consumer Market Development Alexander Borisov, Deputy Minister of Investments and Innovations of the Moscow region Nadezhda Karisalova, CEO of “Transaero” Olga Pleshakova and others.

As best small companies were recognized: LLC “Kuzbass Power Sales Company” (Kemerovo) in service industry; LLC Production/Construction Consortium “StroiTechProekt” (Novosibirsk) in construction sphere; LLC “Laktovit” (Angarsk) in agricultural sector. The best exporting company in the sphere of industrial production in 2013 was JSC “Power Machines” (St. Petersburg).

The winners received the symbols of “Golden Mercury” Award - figures of Roman god of trade (based on author's sketches ​​by sculptor Vladimir Surovtcev); other nominees were presented with Special commemorative medals. In addition, all participants are allowed to use the emblem of “Golden Mercury” Award as an indicator of high-quality products and services they provide.

In conclusion the organizing committee of the National Award “Golden Mercury” noted the significant contribution to the support and development of small business, as well as active participation in the organization of the competition of the Award’ business partners - World Trade Center Moscow, JSCB “Rosbank” and “Project 111” by presenting them with special awards.

The National Award “Golden Mercury” of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation in the area of Entrepreneurship with the support of the RF Federation Council, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the RF Ministry of Regional Development was established in 2002. This principle business award in Russia is to promote dynamic development of the Russian small and midsize business and strengthen positions and traditions of Russian entrepreneurship. World Trade Center Moscow acted as business partner of the Award.

For more information on this article, please contact Yulia S. Ivanova, WTC Moscow, at YSIvanova@wtcmoscow.ru.