Awarding prizes to the winners of All-Russian School History Olympiad

As part of the Russian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Forum ‘Big Demand for Small Business’ an award ceremony will be held for the winners of the All-Russian School Olympiad on History of Russian Entrepreneurship for the age group younger than the 9th grade.

The first prize went to Nikita Komarov, a seventh grade student of the secondary comprehensive school in Svetogorsk, Leningradskaya Region. The second prize went to Yekaterina Sycheva-Peredero, 8th grade student of Gymnasium No. 1 in the city of Kemerovo. The third prize went to Georgy Bormin, 8th grade student of the secondary comprehensive school in Svetogorsk, Leningradskaya Region. Ilya Syomin, the project coordinator and Vice President of Business Russia will present diplomas of honour and prize money checks to the winners.

The All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren was held as part of the joint project of Business Russia and the Russian Historic Society “The History of Russian Entrepreneurship”. The regional stage of the Olympiad took place in April–May in several dozen Russian regions, with about 10,000 schoolchildren participating. In the regional finals on May 15, 2015 the winners of regional rounds between more than 100 students in the age group younger than the 9th grade and students of grades 10-11 took place by correspondence. Over a period of three hours the participants carried out assignments divided into three blocs: tests, detailed questions and essays on a pre-set subject. The questions covered all stages of the past eventful history of domestic entrepreneurship, as well as the life and activities of such outstanding merchants and patrons of art as Demidovs, Stroganovs, Morozovs, Tretyakovs and others. The work of the federal Olympiad’s participants was rated by eminent scholars from Lomonosov Moscow State University, Higher School of Economics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation and the Institute of Russian History under the RAS. The commission was chaired by Professor Leonid Borodkin, Academic of RANS, Aide of Dean of the MSU History Department.

The “History of Russian Entrepreneurship” joint project initiated by Business Russia and the Russian Historic Society with the purpose of restoring justice and the historic memory and of the contribution of domestic entrepreneurship to the development of the Russian nationhood. The project’s main axis and pivot is the all-Russian campaign: “100 Great Entrepreneurs and Russian Patrons of Art” (http://historybiz.ru/nominanty.html). A biographic Internet gallery of famous entrepreneurs is being formed as part of this project, with subsequent voting and publication of an encyclopaedia. The project’s official website is also developing the fullest calendar of Russian business history dates. Furthermore, an all-Russian contest of school essays is being conducted as part of the project, round table discussions are being held in different parts of the country. Initiatives are also being taken to establish monuments and memorial boards, as well as a competition of media outlets, scripts for documentaries, film festival and other events. For example, on May 25–29, 2015, the first exhibition entitled “Outstanding Entrepreneurs and Russian Patrons of Art” devoted to the history of Russian entrepreneurship was arranged in the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Sergey Naryshkin, State Duma Speaker, Boris Titov, Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights, and Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Economic Policy, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship took part in the opening ceremony.

The project has enjoyed wide public support in most regions of the country which were actively involved in the implementation of regional aspects. Russian President Vladimir Putin also supported the project as reflected in the various missions delegated to Vladimir Medinsky, Dmitry Livanov, Nikolai Nikiforov, as well as Russian Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoys in the federal districts. Moreover, the text of the report “On Measures of SME Development in the Russian Federation”, delivered on April 7, 2015, at the session of the State Council, reflects the need to conduct a series of events on the history of entrepreneurship, since this is an important factor of the new state policy of promoting entrepreneurial activities.

06/12/2015