In Yekaterinburg, top entrepreneurs were honored. Report from the awards ceremony.

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Party vibes filled the air as participants gathered for the pre-event bonanza before the official award ceremony. The hour leading up to the prize distribution was packed with conversations, sharing everything from summer vacation plans to financial talks, and stories swirling around debt and credit, accompanied by storytelling drinks and engaging with subscribers.

Photos courtesy of Anton Buzenko, our site.RU

The organizers orchestrated the ambiance for a casual and relaxed chat setting: a red carpet adorned the entrance to the building, champagne, coffee, appetizers, and a cover band playing popular tunes in unique arrangements.

Photos courtesy of Anton Buzenko, our site.RU

The Administration Prize is one of many in Yekaterinburg. Its purpose is to publicly recognize merits and promote small and medium enterprises, which play a crucial role in the city's economy and provide employment for over one third of its residents. During the ceremony, Mayor Alexei Orlov elaborated on this and steered clear of naming any standout local businesses.

Quality examples involve projects like "Domna," where budding entrepreneurs showcase their talents in areas such as design, music, and photography. The creative industry highly impresses me today. - Diplomatically, the city mayor responded.

Attendees at the gathering leaned more towards the younger side. I approached them with a singular question: why start a business in Yekaterinburg, given that opportunities seem scarcer compared to major cities?

We are natives here, we help locals and more, and Yekaterinburg feels comfortable. The city is compact with short distances. Compared to Moscow or St. Petersburg, the courts are a breeze: no massive queues.

In the end, he did admit that his company would expand to St. Petersburg soon.

Photos courtesy of Anton Buzenko, our site.RU

Daniel offers business consulting on matters related to registering businesses, opening bank accounts, and tax optimization. He believes starting a business in Yekaterinburg, as well as across the country, is relatively effortless due to a favorable tax system.

For instance, in communities like Europe, you need to pay more than 50% in taxes on profits, but here in Russia, it's only 20%.

Photos courtesy of Anton Buzenko, our site.RU

Others, however, aspire to scale their businesses beyond the city. I learned about this from the creator of an educational platform. In the future, he plans to become a resident of Skolkovo.

Why specifically Yekaterinburg? It's a tricky question. Perhaps because I've lived here my whole life. But if I were to open a business elsewhere, it would likely be in more attractive countries from a financial perspective.
Which countries?
I'll call them "unfriendly."

For industrial sectors, Yekaterinburg and its suburbs remain attractive locations. Varvara, founder of a coaching center taking part in the preparation of personnel for major metallurgical holding companies, explained that such conditions, as found in the Sverdlovsk region, are hard to come by elsewhere.

Yekaterinburg is ready for expansion to the region. Workers from Yekaterinburg are willing to relocate to Rivd or Nižnye Sergi. The level of development in the metallurgy industry enables the incorporation of personnel from Yekaterinburg, where high career and salary expectations are said to exist. This speaks to the high level of competition.

Award recipients included:

Anastasia Polyeva in the self-employment category;
"SKK" in the retail category;
"Region-expert" in the service industries category;
"Everest" in the production category;
"Ant-engineering" in the construction category;
"Microsstructure" in the creative industries category;
"Center of reservation Yusta" in the tourism and hospitality industries category;
"Steaks here" in the restaurant and café category;
individual entrepreneur Lydia Vasilieva in the education category;
individual entrepreneur Artyom Kurchatov in the People's Choice category

Last year's winners can be found here.* Participants were evaluated in each of the ten categories based on 14 criteria. More details about the criteria - here.* According to the administration of Yekaterinburg, there are approximately 127,000 small and medium businesses and 162,000 self-employed individuals. In mid-March, Alexei Orlov issued an order that extends the period for providing real estate support to legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and self-employed individuals to the year 2030. Earlier, Orlov authorized the allocation of 20.9 million rubles to the Entrepreneurship Support Fund[1].

The creative industry in Yekaterinburg is highly impressive, as demonstrated by projects like "Domna" that showcase the talents of young entrepreneurs in design, music, and photography.
Starting a small business in Yekaterinburg can be relatively effortless due to a favorable tax system, with taxes on profits at only 20%, compared to over 50% in some European countries.
For some attendees at the gathering, scaling their businesses beyond the city is a goal, with aspirations to become a resident of Skolkovo or to expand to more financially attractive countries. However, Yekaterinburg remains an attractive location for industrial sectors, particularly for personnel preparation for major metallurgical holding companies.

In Yekaterinburg, top entrepreneurs were honored. Report from the awards ceremony.