At the 15th Annual Government Awards for Quality ceremony, held at the Government House, awards were presented to eight winners representing various sectors of the economy.

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Dmitry Medvedev’s opening remarks:

Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome to the 15th Annual Government Awards for Quality ceremony. Today, we have eight winners who represent our great country from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area to the Stavropol Territory and who come from various economic sectors – from the social sphere to space engineering and agriculture. As I arrived here from the Government meeting – it was a long meeting where we discussed all sorts of issues – I went to see the exhibition that demonstrates, as I understand, your achievements. I was impressed. The most important thing uniting everyone in the audience is a desire to work, high-quality and efficient results, and modern management techniques, which are, of course, vital for our country. When it comes to work productivity in Russia, the situation varies greatly, including where the issue of productivity is concerned.

Work quality has become a key factor in determining a country's competitive advantage internationally, and a competitive advantage is the only prerequisite for our country’s development. Let me remind you that similar awards are issued worldwide. We didn’t come up with the idea. The first is called the Deming Prize, which was established in Japan in 1951. Clearly, the Japanese economy was very different from what it is today, to put it mildly, and this prize stimulated the development of large and not so large Japanese companies, their breakthrough into the global market, and the eventual emergence of the achievements that they now enjoy. I’m mentioning this just because the prize serves as a stimulus as well.

The evaluation criteria for our contest have been harmonised with the prestigious European Quality Award. We have joined the World Trade Organisation. It was a difficult path, and we had tough decisions to make. However, despite all of the difficulties, the WTO membership will create requirements in terms of the quality of our products and the competitiveness of our industries in the long run. In the end, it is beneficial for our economy because we need to implement the latest manufacturing practices and introduce state-of-the-art technology and the most successful business models, including business and social processes management.

I hope that we will strive to ensure that we have all of these things in every region, as even though the situation varies depending on the area, things are nevertheless improving. We set very simple yet complex tasks, which will change the quality of our lives. Quality of life is all about the performance of companies such as yours. Therefore, I hope that you will continue to contribute to the development of our beloved country. It is no accident that the winners include not only industry giants, but also social entities, colleges, high schools, universities, hospitals, and health resorts – in short, a variety of enterprises where our citizens work.

Friends, once again, I sincerely congratulate all of you on receiving this award. I wish you new successes and achievements. I would like to thank the organisers for their work and I suggest that we commence the awards ceremony.

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(After the awards ceremony)

I am very happy that such diverse teams have received awards. It's great to receive an award. The word "award" has evoked special feelings in our country since Soviet times. Perhaps things are different abroad, but, at any rate, this is a moral commendation, a state commendation. And this has lasting significance in our lives. Money is not the only thing that matters, although people need money, which should follow the award. This is because one thing always presupposes the other. In the long run, this implies a common attitude towards your work. This is a seal of quality distinguishing the extremely multi-faceted and diverse work being conducted by various teams, facing different conditions at the outset. And I hope that you will continue to achieve all your objectives, and that your success stories will serve as an example for many Russian companies and Russian teams addressing wide-ranging and extremely important tasks in this country. Please, accept my congratulations once again.