Russia's largest business schools, Business Ombudsman Boris Titov and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development have established an award for Russian entrepreneurs.

The national Award "Considerable Business" will become the country's main award for small and medium-sized businesses and will cover entrepreneurs from 85 regions of the Russian Federation. The first award presentation will take place on February 6, 2019, and the award will become an annual award.

On the website https://nemaliy.biz / applications are open for participants.

The founders of the Considerable Business 2019 award are the Synergy Business School, Like Group of Companies, Business School Business Youth, Experum Company, Black Star Group of Companies, Business Environment JSC and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. Boris Titov, Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights, headed the galaxy of organizers. The association of companies, each of which works directly with small and medium–sized businesses to identify and support the best of the best, is a unique phenomenon and occurred for the first time in Russia.

"Some time ago, I discovered that a completely new group of entrepreneurs had emerged in Russia... People of a different format who, despite the presence of obstacles, see the positive and strive forward, turning ideas into real things. In other words, we have been replaced by another generation of business figures. This is a huge energy wave that supports several sectors of the Russian economy at once," the Russian Presidential Envoy opened the business meeting with these words.Boris Titov. He also noted that there are a huge number of interesting business projects in Russia, but few people know about them.

"One of our key tasks is to show an entrepreneur of a new format. He is successful, has freedom of choice, and does what he loves, which helps him gain independence, business brings his family a stable income; and if we talk about society and the country as a whole, entrepreneurship is about creating new jobs, developing the economy, and solving social problems. The Ministry of Economic Development, together with the award's partners: Synergy University, Skolkovo Expert School, Business Environment, Likecenter, Business Youth, Black Star, joined forces to name the best and express gratitude to entrepreneurs for their contribution to the development of the country. We hope that many people will want to follow their example and change their lives. We believe that only through joint efforts can we achieve serious results. The Big Business Award is designed to show our entrepreneurs that we believe in them and they are following the right path," the Minister of Economic Development said.Maxim Oreshkin.

Field trips abroad and extensive experience in cooperation with small and medium-sized businesses have enabled the award's creators to understand that Russian entrepreneurs have very advanced competencies, unlike their foreign counterparts, and this should be developed and encouraged. These are people who, in fact, are moving their business and, therefore, the Russian economy forward without support and grants. Six progressive Russian companies have joined forces to select the most worthy of them and provide an opportunity for even greater development. "A year ago, many of us competed, but where there is competition, there is complementarity. In order to effectively develop the Russian economy, it is necessary not to compete, but to cooperate. The association of young business leaders is a new milestone in our country," Andrey Vanin, General Director of JSC Business Environment, commented on the idea of creating the award.

The creation of a business school collaboration provides an opportunity to expand the audience. So the total number of people who are ready to take part in the competition for the main places is about 25 million people. Representatives of small businesses under the age of 40 from all over Russia will be able to compete for the title of the best.

The longlist will include 100 people, and the shortlist formed by open voting will include 20. And already six winners in six nominations will be selected from them.

The winners will be determined in three stages. The first stage is selection according to the specified criteria using a point system, the second stage is a popular vote, and the final stage of the competition will be checking the selected candidates for the purity of their reputation, the amount of annual revenue and turnover. The winners will be awarded in six categories:

"Early success" – achieving maximum results at a young age;

"Rapid growth" is the most significant result in a year;

"Innovative breakthrough" – technical or managerial innovations, due to which the company has received fundamentally different economic indicators.;

Dobry Biznes – socially oriented business and CSR;

Real Product – manufacturing companies;

The Grand Prix will be awarded by internal voting of the jury members.

The main award for the winners will be the "Golden Year", which implies comprehensive business support throughout 2019. This is a package reward that will include:

• Residency in one of the special economic zones, which will allow the winners to significantly reduce economic costs;

• Mentoring support from the most famous Russian entrepreneurs;

• Valuable prizes in the form of laptops, smartphones and other gadgets useful for business;

• Privilege of key banks of the country, cash-backs up to 20%, access to VIP-halls of airports;

• Premium tickets to the main business forums of 2019;

• PR support for business activities:

• Outbound business programs in the USA;

• The Board of Directors for the winning companies, which will consist of members of the award jury.

"The main six companies that will become leaders will have a Golden Year. This means that they will receive a huge number of business acceleration tools. We are all categorically opposed to the idea that entrepreneurs should simply be given financial security. We believe that entrepreneurs should be given growth drivers," said the rector of the Synergy Business SchoolGrigory Avetov.

Concluding the meeting, Boris Titov noted that the main difference between the Considerable Business 2019 award lies precisely in the fact that it involves long-term and systematic support for the winners. This is a fundamental point that is designed not only to encourage entrepreneurship, but also to create the necessary conditions and provide assistance for the development of small businesses in our country, and hence the Russian economy as a whole.