Supporting the Creative Industries

The standard offers regions a comprehensive methodology for developing the creative economy. It contains recommendations on building the necessary infrastructure, preparing strategies, applying best practices, and establishing a regulatory framework. Partners are adapting the Russian approach to conditions in Uzbekistan, exchanging analytical materials, and jointly developing tools to support the creative sector.

ASI is also developing similar cooperation with other countries in the region. At the end of 2023, the Institute for Economic Policy Research of the Kyrgyz Republic joined the Consortium of EAEU Development Institutions.

One of the key areas of joint work has been studying the Russian methodologies behind the National Rating of the Investment Climate and the Quality of Life Rating. Kyrgyz specialists are analyzing the most effective tools and determining how to build them into their national system of public administration.

In this way, countries are turning an exchange of methodologies into the joint development of solutions. Russian practices provide the foundation, and partners adapt them to their own conditions while preserving the core principles: reliance on data, feedback from entrepreneurs, and an assessment of real changes in the regions.

A strong brand can emerge just as easily in a big city as in a small workshop far from the country’s economic centers. But growing a company requires expert support, partners, new sales channels, and a clear development strategy. The “Znai Nashikh” (“Know Our Own”) competition brings these tools together: it finds promising regional projects, helps them establish themselves on the Russian market, and prepares the most mature teams for export.

The Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the Roscongress Foundation run the “Znai Nashikh” competition for growing Russian brands, with the support of VEB.RF. The organizers are looking for companies that are developing their own production, showing steady growth, and planning to enter new markets.

Participants include small and medium-sized businesses — makers of food products, clothing, cosmetics, homeware, and other product categories. A separate track is dedicated to technology brands. In it, companies present solutions in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, machine learning, high-tech agriculture, future energy, and transport infrastructure.

In the selection process, experts take into account sales trends, growth potential, and the level of localized production, which must be at least 30%. Winners receive consultations with experts, get onto marketplaces and into retail chains, and take part in educational programs, business associations, and major events. The competition’s partners also help them attract investment, expand their professional networks, and promote their products.

The competition also creates an environment for developing Russian brands. Its partner network helps entrepreneurs find new sales channels, meet potential customers, and prepare their business for scaling up.

Over its first three seasons, the competition attracted around 31,000 participating companies, and roughly 3,000 Russian brands received support. The project has brought together entrepreneurs from major cities and small towns alike, for whom taking part in the competition became an additional tool for growing their business and promoting their products.

The fourth season showed just how widely the competition has reached the country’s entrepreneurial community. Companies from all 89 regions of Russia submitted more than 21,000 applications across 33 categories.

Activity grew noticeably in certain territories. Compared with the previous year, the number of applications rose by 114% in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, 104% in Vologda Region, 61% in Primorsky Territory, 27% in the Republic of Tatarstan, and 18% in Nizhny Novgorod Region. The Republic of Mordovia, whose brands regularly reach the finals and win awards, came close to matching the two largest cities in the country by number of applications.

“Over the past few years, the ‘Znai Nashikh’ competition has become an effective tool for finding and supporting strong Russian brands. Many participants from previous seasons have successfully scaled their businesses, entered new markets, and gained recognition far beyond their own regions. The fourth season confirms that entrepreneurial potential exists across the entire country. More and more strong teams are emerging in the regions, while the share held by Moscow and St. Petersburg keeps shrinking each year. Competition among ideas, products, and management decisions is shaping a new generation of Russian brands we can be proud of,” said Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation.

According to Anton Kobyakov, adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, Russian brands above all showcase a history of hard work, entrepreneurial energy, and the drive to make the world around them better. “Participants from across the whole country are proving that successful brands can be born anywhere, becoming points of growth for local communities and the economy. More than 21,000 applications is evidence of high business activity. As always, the winners and finalists will get extra opportunities to promote their brands, but every participant’s contribution matters: together, you are shaping the image of Russian entrepreneurship,” Kobyakov added.

Entrepreneurs from Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Republic of Mordovia, and Primorsky Territory submitted the most applications. The most popular category was “Ready-to-Eat and Functional Food,” which drew 2,700 applications. The “Industrial Technologies” category received 1,900 applications. Strong interest was also shown in the “Cultural Code,” “Farm Products,” “Family Brands,” “Health and Personal Care,” “Interior Design,” and “Clothing and Accessories” categories.

ASI Director General Svetlana Chupsheva also stressed that behind every application are people who believed in their idea and turned it into a product, a company, or a production facility. “Some start with a small workshop or a family business, others build a technology startup, but everyone shares the drive to grow and create a Russian product that people want. The competition helps these teams get noticed, find partners, and gain new opportunities to develop. For some participants, the next step will be the Agency’s ‘New National Brand’ project, where, together with designers, manufacturers, and experts, they can create products capable of becoming recognizable symbols of modern Russia,” she concluded.

Another important result of the season was the growth of technology entrepreneurship. For the first time, the organizers made the technology categories into a standalone track. The number of applications in these categories exceeded the combined total for IT and high-tech categories over the previous three seasons by 10.6%. By number of participants, technology brands came close to catching up with the food-products category, which traditionally draws the most applications.

“Technology brands are one of the main drivers of Russian business today. Domestic entrepreneurs are creating breakthrough solutions in artificial intelligence, industry, energy, transport, and digital services. Behind every application is the ambition not just to occupy a niche, but to reach the global stage with a competitive product. Supporting such companies is an important part of our joint work toward achieving technological leadership,” said Igor Shuvalov, Chairman of VEB.RF and Chairman of ASI’s Expert Council.

The number of applications reflects the scale of entrepreneurial activity, but participating in the competition alone doesn’t guarantee further growth. That’s why the project’s partners offer brands targeted support programs to help teams strengthen their business model, build a strategy, and prepare to operate in new markets.

The “Health and Personal Care” category brings together brands working at the intersection of everyday self-care and health — from makers of hygiene and personal-care cosmetics to creators of specialized solutions and devices. Participants combine natural formulas with high-tech formats and pay close attention to product quality, product-line breadth, and user experience, from packaging to ease of use.

In this category, organizers look for projects with deep expertise and the potential to scale up in the mass market. Finalists can take part in an intensive online course on developing an export track. During the training, entrepreneurs build an export strategy, restructure their business processes with future growth in mind, and prepare to operate in foreign markets.

The best participants get the chance to continue in the SPLAT Global export-support program. Yevgeny Demin, General Director of SPLAT, holds a personal mentoring session for the category’s winners. Winning brands also take part in selection for the SPLAT Global program.

In 2024 and 2025, 87 brands completed the SPLAT Global educational track as part of the “Znai Nashikh” competition. The export accelerator combined practical sessions, work with experts, and analysis of real international-trade case studies.

According to SPLAT’s press service, about 20% of program participants signed new export contracts or entered new sales markets. “Around 52% of the brands identified strategic markets for development and adjusted their export strategy. More than 67% of companies updated their approach to analytics, marketing communications, and export logistics. Nearly a third of participants strengthened their in-house expertise in international operations. The export accelerator worked not only as an educational track but as a point of convergence: it helped brands settle on a strategy, restructure their processes, find partners, and join the exporter community,” the press service added.

In this way, the competition builds a consistent development path for a brand: it helps a team get noticed, find partners, strengthen its business model, and prepare to scale up. Some participants expand their presence on the Russian market; others sign their first export contracts and enter new countries. Through this, the competition turns the search for promising projects into a practical system for growing Russian companies.