Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group) won in the first European Quality Gold Medal contest. The company competed in the Russia’s Top 100 Enterprises: Environment and Environmental Management category. More than 150 companies that deal in conservational activities took part in the contest altogether. Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil received the medal and a certificate for special achievements in the field of conservation technologies. The company’s Managing Director Alexei Kushnarev was given the honorary title of Environmentalist of the Year 2006. The awarding ceremony took place at the All-Russian Environment and Production conference in Saint Petersburg. The prizes were distributed by the representatives of the Soviet of the Federation, the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and executives of some independent environmental groups. All the awards received by the Complex and its employees are now exhibited at the company museum.

In order to take part in this competition, businesses had to receive references from the regional environmental authorities and produce a report on their conservational activity in 2006. These papers were then considered by an independent council consisting of some members of the Soviet of the Federation dealing with issues of science, culture, education, healthcare, and the environment, representatives of the International Academy of Quality and Marketing, and members of Russian Environmentalists’ Club. Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil presented the council with exhausting data on its conservation projects, dynamics of decreasing pollution rate, success of the company’s waste recycling program, and other environmental achievements, reports the spokesperson for Evraz Group.