OREANDA-NEWS. December 20, 2007. The awards ceremony for winners of the 8th PROBA-IPRA GWA competition in the field of Public Relations took place in St Petersburg. The title of "PR Specialist of the Year" went to the Deputy Director of Corporate Affairs of Baltika Breweries, Alexei Kedrin, the Baltika press service reported.

The PROBA-IPRA Golden World Awards in the field of Public Relations are one of the first and the largest professional prizes in this sphere in Russia. This year a record number of candidates - 151 - took part in the competition. The prizes were awarded in seven categories, among them "Best PR Project" and "Best Student PR Project."

In the words of the Company's Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Daniil Briman, receiving the prize for best PR specialist came as the result of teamwork and effective interaction among all employees in the unit responsible for corporate communications and information at Baltika Breweries.

In 2006, Baltika produced excellent results and was acknowledged as the most widely cited company in the Russian food products sector. During that year, the media issued more than 5,000 publications about the Company.

The PROBA prize was established in 2000 by the Northwestern Branch of the Russian Association of Public Relations. Since 2004, winners of the Russian competition have taken part in the prestigious international IPRA Golden World Awards conducted by the International Association of Public Relations.

Baltika Breweries is the largest FMCG company in Russia. Ever since 1996 it has been the leader on the Russian beer market. The Baltika brand occupies second place in Europe in terms of sales. The Company comprises 11 breweries across all of Russia. It has a wide portfolio of brands and its employee’s number around 12,000.