The distinction of 2002 for the large Russian cosmetics and perfumery company Concern Kalina lies in the fact that this year features two of the company’s anniversaries: 60 years of existence (previously under the name Uralskiye Samotsvety) and five years of new managing-team activity.
The significance of the event brought representatives of the company from its headquarters in Yekaterinburg to Moscow’s Marriott Aurora Hotel on March 13. Kalina’s general director, Timur Goryayev, and financial director, Alexander Petrov, came to make a report on what they have achieved, speak about their future plans for development and clarify the principles of their work at a press conference organized along with PR agency Mikhailov and Partners.
The Kalina representatives gave an overview of Concern’s history, presented old and new products and explained the dynamics of the company’s growth and financial development.
Goryayev said his personal goal is to make Kalina Russia’s best-managed enterprise. During the informal part of the meeting, he spoke with The Leader about the company’s hiring policies and training opportunities. "We take graduates from different areas of study and employees with different skill levels, as experience has proved that, in any case, everyone needs additional training and skills improvement," he said. "We have already spent about $200,000 on our training programs because quality, corporate spirit and discipline are some of our basic principles. We value ambitious and motivated people." He added that his formula for success in Russia is "self-confidence and professionalism."

Media Manager — 2001

The Congress Center of the Russian Federal Chamber of Commerce hosted the Media Manager — 2001 awards ceremony on March 12, 2002. The awards ceremony was instituted by organizations strongly concerned with mass-media business development, such as the public-relations bureau Republic, informational and analytical bulletin Mass Media News and company BusinessOpen. The Russian Advertising Council, Russian Association for Public Relations and IFRA supported and contributed to the organization of the event.
The expert committee of the Media Manager — 2001 awards consisted of leaders in mass media and business including, Prime-TASS’ agency director, the International Advertising association representative, the general producer of Ultra-Production, RosBusinessConsulting’s general director, Sibneft’s PR manager and experts from other leading companies.
The ceremony organizers awarded media managers in five catagories.
In Printed Mass Media the winners were: Sergei Klyuchenkov, general director of Metro; Listevnik Arnd Folker, general director of the publishing house Burda; Sergei Fedorov, president of the Federov company.
Electronic Mass Media winners were: Boris Jordan, general director for NTV; Sergei Kozhevnikov, chairman of Russkoi Mediagruppy; Roman Petrenko, general director for STS.
Winners in Advertising Business included: Lev Shamigin, deputy director of development for Komsomolskaya Pravda; Maxim Tkachev, board member for News Outdoor; Vadim Kulikov, general director for Vitrina A.
PR Industry winners were: Alexei Bury. vice president of communications at Gamma Group; Yekaterina Kolyada, vice president for communictions at Metalloinvest; Vadim Smishchenko, director of the departmetn of information politics for the Ministry of Labor.

Web chat with U.S. ambassador

U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow participated in a Web chat with U.S. government-programs alumni from all over Russia on March 27, 2002.
The event was organized by the Project Harmony Internet project coordinators and took place at the American Center located in the Foreign Literature Library. The number of people invited was limited to several Moscow alumni of U.S. programs and American Center officials. Project Harmony’s Internet training centers from Tomsk, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, South Sakhalin and Samara received an opportunity to have a direct connection to the ambassador.
The topic of the chat was "The Future of U.S.-Russia Relations," but questions also touched upon the past and the current situation. The subjects of the questions ranged from young people’s reproductive rights to the American nuclear-weapons policy and oil and gas joint projects.
The Web chat went on for an hour, which was definitely not enough for young leaders from numerous Russian cities. The ambassador suggested that another chat should be organized with a different focus and, hopefully, with live video facilities involved. In his closing comments, Vershbow remarked that the event had proven to be an effective channel for communication, and urged all alumni to keep in touch, as cooperation between leaders is essential for the country’s prosperity. The video version, photos, questions and answers will be available at www.projectharmony.ru.