Thirty-five top managers recently made it through to the first round of the Manager of the Year contest organized by the British Council with the information sponsorship of Vedomosti, a business newspaper. Other organizers include the British Embassy and Russia’s Ministry of Education.

First prize is two educational scholarships: One to study at an M.B.A. program at the University of Leeds Business School, the other is a Master’s program leading to an L.L.M. in international business and commercial law or international trade law at the University of East Anglia.

Two winners will be selected in late March after two more rounds: a case-study presentation and an English-language test. According to contest organizers, the managers will have to demonstrate their language, communication, leadership, and business presentation skills.

More than 800,000 foreign students are currently studying in Great Britain. “The message is very clear: the British Council would like to stress the affordability of education in Britain,” said Paul Norton, assistant director of Education Promotion & Awards at the British Council, “Thirteen thousand Russians traveled to Great Britain to study this year. We hope to have even more scholarships to offer to Russians next year as we approach corporate and educational sponsors in the United Kingdom,”

According to the British Council, the Manager of the Year contest was designed to provide an extra opportunity for young Russian executives to benchmark their skills against the requirements of leading U.K. universities, practice and improve their ability to compete, expand their contacts, meet peers with similar academic and career objectives and, finally, win a one-year scholarship for full-time business studies in the United Kingdom.

“Almost 50 managers applied to take part in the contest, and 35 contestants from 13 Russian cities have gone through to the second round,” said Paul Norton.

The participants in the contest are young Russian businessmen and women between 22 and 35 years old who have worked in management positions for more than three years, completed their first degree education, possess a good command of English, and are Russian citizens. Contestants who have entered the second round represent such companies as Donskoi Tabak, AT&T, Aton, ORT, Proctor&Gamble, DHL, Unilever and others. Their names are listed at www.britishcouncil.ru/education/moy/

Britain’s Ambassador to Russia Sir Roderic Lyne will personally congratulate the winners at the Award Ceremony at the opening of the British Council’s M.B.A. and Business Degrees Exhibition on April 6, 2002.

More information about the Manager of the Year contest and other scholarship schemes run by the British Council can be found at www.britishcouncil.ru