The Russian Federation Ministry for Industry and Trade announced the winners of Russia’s Best Exporter of the Year 2009 contest.

The contest is held by the Ministry on a yearly basis and is a part of the state industrial export support program. It has been held for the 13th time this year, with the participants (coming from sixteen basic industrial branches) competing in categories like the Branch’s Best Russian Exporter, the Branch’s Best Russian Exporter to the CIS, and the Branch’s Most Dynamically Developing Russian Exporter.

The applications were considered by the Ministry’s Foreign Economic Relations Department that looked into the documents presented and data on the companies’ consolidated export reports.

OAO Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) won the contest in the Best Russian Exporter to the CIS category among the country’s ferrous metallurgy enterprises. In fact, the same happened last year, the company’s PR Department reports.

MMK sees export to the countries of the near abroad as one of its top sales priorities. In 2009, the company shipped over 570,000 tons of metal goods to the countries of the CIS.

The award ceremony is to take place in Moscow on July 1, 2010.