November 30, 2006
2006 Citigroup Microentrepreneurship Awards Program Winners Announced in Russia
Moscow – Today, the awards ceremony of the Russian Microentrepreneurship Awards Competition in association with the 2006 Citigroup Microentrepreneurship Awards program, held in Russia from June to November 2006, took place within the frameworks of the V National Conference “Microfinance in Russia: Components of Success – Past Experience for Future Growth.”
The goal of the awards program is to encourage and support best practices among both microentrepreneurs and microfinance institutions throughout Russia, by drawing the attention of public and private sectors to the extraordinary contributions that microentrepreneurs make to economic sustainability of their families as well as their communities. The competition is a follow up to the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards program, which was first held in Russia in 2005. In 2006, the Citigroup Foundation provided 100% of financial support to the Awards program, which is being hosted in 23 countries around the world.
The organizers of the Award are the National Partnership of Microfinance Market Stakeholders (NAUMIR), the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RF CCI), the Russian Microfinance Center, and Citigroup Russia.
The jury of the competition received over 140 applications from microentrepreneurs and microfinance organizations from different parts of Russia.
Leading economic experts took part in the winners award ceremony – Mikhail Nikolaev, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Sergey Katyrin, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Deputy secretary of the Public Chamber; Andrey Sharov, Director of the State Economic Regulation Department, Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade; Anatoly Aksakov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on credit organizations and financial markets; Natalia Nikolaeva, vice president, Citigroup Russia; and Mikhail Mamuta, NAUMIR President. The awards ceremony was held by Igor Kirillov, who honored artists of the USSR.
The first prize winners for the main nominations are:
- Best microentrepreneur among non-trade enterprises: Georgiy Miron, Komsomolsk-on-Amur
- Best microentrepreneur among trade enterprises: Marina Kretova, Kaluzgskaya oblast, Lyudinovo
- Best employer in the area of microentrepreneurship among non-trade enterprises: Tamara Egorova, Moskovskaya oblast, Dubna
- Best employer in the area of microentrepreneurship among trade enterprises: Nina Baraban, Voronezhskaya oblast, Rossosh
Nataly Nikolaeva, vice president of Citigroup Russia, noted at the awards ceremony: “The Citigroup Foundation supports the development of microentrepreneurship all around the globe, paying special attention to the emerging markets. At present, over 1,500 active microfinance organizations are registered in Russia and the total portfolio of microloans exceeded $450 million as of July 1, 2006. This competition gives the opportunity to reduce the most successful representatives in this sphere and to draw attention to the microfinance sector, the development of which could help solving the employment problem, especially among marginal population.”
For more information on the competition, the winners, and participants, please contact Anisa Aisina, Network manager, at (495) 258-68-31, 258-87-05 or via e-mail aaisina@rmcenter.ru or visit the web-site of Russian Microfinance www.rmcenter.ru.
