OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2007. The gala awards ceremony for the "Russia's Best Legal Departments 2007" was held in the Renaissance hotel on November 22. According to the Expert Council's vote, X5 Retail Group's Legal Department, headed by Valentin Ponomar, was named the winner in the Trade (Retail and Wholesale) category, the company's press service reports.

X5 Retail Group, along with the other winners, was awarded a trophy containing the competition's emblem. The competition was sponsored by leading legal consulting companies, including the law offices of Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners, the law firm Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners, the Magister & Partners law firm, and others. Valentin Ponomar, director of X5 Retail Group's Legal Department, said, "the recognition of X5’s leadership in this nomination speaks of the high level of professionalism of our employees and their ability to effectively work in the extremely competitive Russian retail market."

The "Russia's Best Legal Departments" awards were launched in 2006 by Corporate Lawyer magazine in partnership with Pynes & Moerner Executive Search Consultants. The awards aim to acknowledge the roll corporate lawyers play in the business community and to increase the quality of work by companies' legal departments. This year, 69 nominees in 16 different categories competed for the title of the best.