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Copyright © 2002, The U.S. Russia Center for Entrepreneurship |
Design — Creative Marketing Group, Agency of Internet Technologies ltd Development — Agency of Internet Technologies ltd |
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Judges of the Business Breakthrough competition have come up with the top five finalists. The winner is to be determined by the results of the second round in February.
The top score, 13.31, was awarded to a Penza-based company, Alan Abris, which manufactures a whole range of industrial products: repair and testing of valves and fittings, packaging, and mobile communication accessories. The company was founded in 2000. By 2002 it grew to 150 employees with a turnover of $1.2 million. Its success is a result of several factors. The company invested in three new production facilities, and the mobile communication accessories business manufactures patent-protected items which are unique in the world. Also worth mentioning is the fact that Alan Abris started Internet-based sales in Russian regions. Vadim Samsonov, one of the competition’s judges, noted that Alan Abris has become a leader, in spite of the face that it faces difficult challenges, such as implementing flexible manufacturing techniques to meet changing market situations.
Lynx BCC is a St. Petersburg-based IT company founded in 1997. By 2002, company turnover was $15.7 million with a staff of 69 people. To Lynx, revenue growth of 187% in 2002 is their greatest achievement. Their score is 12.75 points. All judges highly appraised Lynx’ performance, especially noting the complex ideas they turn into reality, and their competitors’ inability to copy them. Indeed, some of Lynx’ technical and technological solutions cannot be copied due to their unique features. Since May 2003, the company has acted as Russia
This Moscow-based company was founded in 1993 (it entered its current line of business in 1999) and offers auditing, evaluation, consultancy and legal services. With 80 people on staff, it achieved $1.5 million in revenue in 2002. In their opinion, RightON’s best achievement is being rating among the top ten Russian auditing and consultancy groups (compiled by Expert advertising agency in 2002). RightON scored 12.38 points. Judge Vadim Samsonov was impressed with how they achieved such prominence in such an extremely competitive market where only exclusive or top-quality service can guarantee market share. However, they did not mention how they managed to achieve this high rating and market share, which did not earn them extra points in this competition. A little side note: lack of information does not yield dividends, whether in this competition or in business.
This Moscow-based company founded in 1996 imports and distributes beer. They earned $10 million in 2002 and employed 120 staff. Pivtorg considers their best achievement as being the highest seller of Ochakovo and Baltika beer in the Moscow region. During the first round of the competition, Pivtorg won 11.9 points. Judge Viktor Sedov noted that during the company’s rapid development in its competitive market, it had to find unusual ways to compete.
Kameo is based in Moscow. It was founded in 1997 and is a wholesale distributor of perfumes and cosmetics. It was founded in 2002 and has a staff of 55 people. The company scored 11.85 points. Judges were impressed with Kameo’s market position and unique marketing solutions that give it a competitive edge in Gillette-branded product sales. Unfortunately, all judges noted that a lack of corporate information, with some lines of the questionnaire saying “data unavailable”, prevented Kameo from winning more points.
