Between December 2 and 4, 2002, the Grand Conference Hall of the Federal President's Administration in Moscow was the venue of the Third Assembly of the Russian Business Community, Investments in the Russian Economy: Practice and Prospects

The Assembly was organized by the Russian Academy of Business, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers), the ASMO-press International Journalists' Association, the Global World International Association for Economic, Cultural and Scientific Cooperation, the European Business Club, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, with support from the Federal President's Administration, the Federal Government, and the Federation Council and the State Duma of the Federal Assembly.

"Russia can take a leading place among the most competitive countries of the world," was the general consensus of the participants in the Third Assembly of the Russian Business Community, Investments in the Russian Economy: Practice and Prospects. For three days, leading Russian economists, entrepreneurs and politicians gathered in the Grand Conference Hall of the Federal President's Administration discussed problems facing the country's economy in the investment area.

The country's major industrialists and entrepreneurs, representatives of the nation's medium-sized and small businesses, politicians and economists, and figures in science and culture reached, in spite of differences of their interests and preferences, a unanimous view that economic growth in Russia cannot continue without a significant improvement in its investment climate and a government investment policy promoting influx of sizable investments in Russian enterprises' fixed assets.

In addition to representatives of domestic business, speakers at the plenary sessions of the Assembly included Irina Vakhraneva, assistant Vice President and deputy head of the Moscow representative office of the Bank of New York, USA; Hans Guldenberg, managing director of Nestle Food, Switzerland; Robert Borbidge, head of the Consultative Committee of the Asia-Pacific Space Center, Australia; Irene Commeau, General Director of the European Business Club; and Richard Wright, head of the European Commission's delegation in Moscow.

During intervals between plenary sessions, the Assembly participants familiarized themselves with "Russia's investment opportunities," which was actually the name of an exhibition put on in the lobby of the Grand Conference Hall of the Federal President's Administration on the first day of the Assembly. The entrants' stands were yet another proof, particularly to an extent that it brought home to foreign investors, that Russian manufacturers can make quality competitive goods, whatever views may be held to the contrary. "Russia has an enormous potential, both industrial and scientific," said Herbert Stepic, board vice chairman of Raiffeisen Central Bank, Austria, "but foreign investors are wary of investing in Russian enterprises. Russian business is not transparent and satisfactory legislation and statutes are nonexistent to regulate it." Some movement is, though, observed toward improvement of the investment and entrepreneurial climate in Russia. At any rate, the climate of really constructive partnership that was dominant at the Assembly stimulated, among other things, by creation of a Russian-Mongolian joint venture to produce cashmere items and sell them in the Russian and other foreign markets. As they signed the memorandum of association, representatives of the Buyan Holding Co., on the Mongolian side, noted that if an atmosphere similar to that which prevailed at the Assembly reigned in the Russian economy, Russia would have had far fewer problems with foreign investments.

The second day of the Assembly was fully taken up by sections and roundtables. The halls of the Federal President's Administration, the Federation Council and the State Duma of the Federal Assembly, federal ministries and departments, and representative offices of leading Russian and foreign financial and investment companies were turned into venues for discussions of theoretical and practical aspects of investment in small business, problems and prospects of investment-related laws, and ways to improve the investment image through reforms of the railroad system. The sessions were addressed by K. Bendukidze, General Director of the Amalgamated Engineering Plants Company, G. Fadeev, Federal Minister of Railroads, and G. Tomchin, President of the Russian Association of Privatized and Private Companies, among others.

As G. Tosunian, President of the Russian Banks Association, said, "our roundtable that addressed the lending and investment activities of Russian banks and foundations was so heated that when time came for the section to wind up its discussion, there were far more people willing to convey their views than have already spoken up. This was a straightforward dialog between industrialists and bankers. That is an area where real efforts can be put in to improve the economy." "Significant results can be achieved in improving and promoting economic growth in Russia today by joint efforts only," said Irina Gorbulina, President of the Russian Academy of Business. "In this respect, assemblies of the Russian business community organized by our Academy provide a stimulus to activate all forces to pull in the same direction."

A memorable event in the work of the Third Assembly of the Russian Business Community, Investments in the Russian Economy: Practice and Prospects, was the award of the DARIN Grand Prix of the Russian Academy of Business to Yevgeni Primakov, a leading figure in Russian politics and economics and President of the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for his significant personal contribution to the promotion of enterprise in Russia. "It is a great honor to me to receive Russia's highest business award," said Yevgeni Primakov. The Academy's other awards presented within the Assembly's framework were the Russian Business Elite prizes and the Merited Entrepreneur badges.

The Third Assembly of the Russian Business Community ended on December 4 with the Sixth Award Ceremony for Russia's main business prize, Business Olympus-DARIN, for 2002. Instituted in 1995, the prize is the most prestigious award for members of the Russian business community. The prize has since gone to Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Vagit Alekperov, board chairman of the LUKoil Oil Company, Arkady Volsky, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers), Peter Aven, President of Alfa Bank, Rem Viakhirev, board chairman of Gazprom Gas Company, PLC, A. Zimin, honorary president of VympelCom PLC, V. Lisin, board chairman of the Novolipetsk Steel Plant, PLC, and V. Vekselberg, president of the SUAL Holding Company, PLC, and also to enterprises such as AutoVAZ PLC, GAZ PLC, MTS PLC, Kommersant Publishers, and Moscow State University, to name only a few.

This year, the Business Olympus-DARIN Prize, dubbed Russian Business Oscar from a journalist's cue, has been awarded in 21 nominations, including five most recent ones: Entrepreneur of the Year, Business Innovation, Business Traditions, International Cooperation, and Manager of the Year. A special prize instituted by the Russian Academy of Business for promoting an organizational and legal environment favorable to regional socio-economic development has been awarded to heads of four regional administrations, in particular, Tambov, Kaluga and Tyumen regions and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area. The prize in the International Cooperation nomination has gone to Andrew Sommers, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia; Herbert Stepic, Board Vice Chairman of Raiffeisen Central Bank, Austria; Veit Sorger, General Director of Frantschach AG and Board Chairman of Neusiedl AG, Austria; and Drahomir J. Karic, President of the University of Business and Management. Incidentally, even though these people work in Russia, they relatively seldom attend functions of this kind. This time, however, they were brought together for the Third Assembly of the Russian Business Community and the Business Olympus-DARIN award ceremony.

Overall, there are several prizes for the business community in Russia. Business Olympus-DARIN is the fairest of them. Its multi-stage selection of nominations obviates cheating of any kind, and its panel of judges, which included leading politicians, economists, entrepreneurs, and figures in Russian science and the arts, was impossible to sway by bribing.

Under a relatively recent tradition, the prizes were awarded to the flower of Russian business in the State Academic Bolshoi Theater. The ceremony was a significant event in the country's life for yet another reason. The Sixth Award Ceremony for the National Business Olympus-DARIN Prize was held in Bolshoi Theater's new house, unveiled for the occasion after years of overhaul and renovation. Indeed, the ceremony deserved to be called a premiere. Stage-managed by Dmitry Bertman, a world-famous theater director, winner of the Gold Mask prize on two occasions, and a much acclaimed figure in Russia's performing arts, the ceremony was opened with Empress Catherine the Great's royal coach rolling across the stage. The director had his own reasons for this unusual beginning. According to legend, Darin was the name of a diamond of rare beauty from the Ural Mountains that Catherine the Great gave as a gift to the Russian industrial estate. It has since been known as the Catherine's Gift, or DARIN, for short. The Darin prize award is a sequel to the old legend. Today, just like two hundred years ago, the prize, first given as an encouragement to the rising Russian business class, is awarded to the worthiest people among the Russian business community.

The ceremony has for years invariably been, and was this time, conducted by the husband and wife Alexander and Catherine Strizhenov. Individual award events were interlaced with concert numbers performed by the Bolshoi Theater company, Piatnitsky Choir, and Helicon Opera company. The members of the Russian business elite were celebrated by Bolshoi and Mariinsky stars, including Anastasia Volochkova and Irma Nioradze. The business community's top award was presented by Boris Scherbakov, Oksana Pushkina, Arkady Weiner, Nikas Safronov, Liudmila Gurchenko, Ilia Reznik, Alla Demidova, Joseph Kobzon, and Alexei Guskov.

That night, Bolshoi's renovated stage was ascended by majors of Russian business such as Nikolai Tsvetkov, president of the NIKoil financial corporation, Vladimir Bogdanov, General Director of Surgutneftegaz PLC, Arkady Volsky, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and Vladimir Potanin, President of the Interros Holding Company, among others. A special award of the Russian Academy of Business, the Great Russia order, was presented to Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin.

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