OREANDA-NEWS. October 23, 2009.   An independent panel has determined the list of finalists and the list of nominations for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 contest in Russia. The international Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award has been held by Ernst & Young for 23 years and is justly regarded as the most prestigious and well-known international entrepreneurial contest. The geography of the contest now covers more than 135 cities in 50 countries.

The contest identifies and celebrates entrepreneurs who have made the important contributions to the development of a certain sector of the national economy. Russia joined the countries participating in the program of the Entrepreneur Of The Year contest in 2003, and now the winners of the Russian contest represent Russia at the international contest of the world's best entrepreneurs.

This week, the independent panel of the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 contest in Russia also determined the main nominations in which winners will be named, including agro-industrial business, female entrepreneur, microfinance, young entrepreneur, education and development, production, restaurant business, retail trade, services, and energy.

The candidate who wins the title of best entrepreneur will represent Russia in the final international contest Entrepreneur Of The Year in Monte Carlo in the spring of 2009.

The panel named the following people among the finalists of the 2009 contest:

Yan Nikolayevich Abubakirov, General Director, TETRA Elektrik Group, St. Petersburg

Gleb Alexeyevich Arkhangelskiy, General Director, Organizatsiya Vremeni, Moscow

Igor Olegovich Bukharov, owner, Nostalzhi Art Club, Moscow

Viktor Ivanovich Bykov, Management Board Chairman, Russkoye Torgovo-promyshlennoye Obschestvo Vzaimnogo Kredita, St. Petersburg

Vladimir Igorevich Vanin, General Director, Neolit, Nizhniy Novgorod

Viktor Ivanovich Gerasimenko, General Director, KuybyshevAzot, Togliatti

Alexander Pavlovich Glushkov, General Director, MONEKO, Moscow

Yuri Alexeyevich Zambin, Director, VPO Tochmash, Vladimir city

Mikhail Vitalyevich Zelman, General Director, ARPIKOM, Moscow

Sergei Oganovich Kalenjyan, Director, Higher School of Corporate Management, Moscow

Yelena Vyacheslavovna Manyenan, Director, Gostevoi Dom Chastny Vizit, Plyos city

Alexei Alexandrovich Nekhayev, General Director, State Fund for the Support of Small Business of Voronezh Oblast, Voronezh

Kirill Olegovich Podolsky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VALARS Group, Taganrog

Eduard Saakovich Saakov, General Director, Atomtekhenergo, Mytischi city

Sofia Vladimirovna Svetlosanova, co-owner, Kenguru parlor chain, Moscow

Pavel Valeryevich Skurikhin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sibirskiy Agrarny Holding Group, Novosibirsk

Natalia Alexandrovna Sokolova, Chief Administrator, Gostevoi Dom Chastny Vizit, Plyos city

Sergei Nikolayevich Tanenkov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, ProstoDom Group, Nizhniy Novgorod

Oxana Nikolayevna Fruntikova, General Dsirector, TSENTR YUVELIR, Moscow

Alexei Vasilyevich Fursov, President, Eurasia Holding, St. Petersburg

Oleg Ilgizovich Khusayenov, General Director, Atlant-M Holdling, Moscow

Dmitry Leonidovich Chumakov, General Director, Vektor Marketing Agency, Moscow

Tatiana Leonidovna Sharova, Executive Director, Belgorod Regional Fund for the Support of Small Business, Belgorod

Maxim Alexandrovich Shkadov, General Director, PO Kristall, Smolensk

Andrei Vasilyevich Shutov, Management Board Chairman, KOMOS GRUPP, Izhevsk

Ilya Adolfovich Yakubson, President, DIXI Group, Moscow.

“Everybody says that Russia is a raw-material power, but we see that our economy is developing not only in the energy sphere, but also along other lines. National businesses are successfully resolving the issues they face; they are consolidating their positions on the market and are optimistic about the future,” says Alexander Ivlev, supervisor of the international Entrepreneur Of The Year program in the CIS and Partner and CIS Accounts, Industries and Business Development Leader with Ernst & Young. “The list shows services, education, the agro-industrial business, retail trade and other lines are actively developing in Russia.