Potanin's charity fund to award scholarships

The most gifted students of Russia's north-western region are going to receive scholarships from nickel magnate Vladimir Potanin's charity fund.

The scholarships will be awarded at a ceremony at St. Petersburg State University on October 11th, Friday, with Vladimir Potanin attending, according to the fund.

Thursday will see a mock presentation entitled Problems and Solutions, which will involve 160 students, winners of the contests which had been arranged as part of Potanin's scholarship programme, and about 30 potential employers. They will discuss the problem of incentives for and promotion of young employees, and have a lecture on strategic planning.

To be awarded the scholarships this year, are 160 A students of day departments of seven major universities of Russia's northwest. Twenty-nine of them have won the scholarship for the second time and nine - for the third time. A total of 1,286 students had taken part in the preceding contests. Apart from students' scholarships, the fund will award grants, amounting to $1,200 each, to 16 most promising professors, who have won young professors contests.

Educational programmes are the main area of activity of Potanin's charitable fund, which was established in 1999. The scholarship programme covers all the federal districts of the country. Today, the fund provides 1,700 students with 1,500 roubles in monthly scholarships.