Yekaterinburg Amends Rules for People's Award
In Yekaterinburg, the rules of the E1.RU People«s Award have changed. Companies that repeatedly won in 2024 and 2025 can no longer participate in voting in certain categories — they have been granted the status of experts and special guests.
The People«s Award is a competition for businesses founded by Yekaterinburg»s largest news portal, E1.RU. Since 2017, awards have been given to companies chosen by city residents.
«This year, in several categories, past years» winning companies (those who repeatedly received statuettes) cannot participate in the People«s Award and receive the status of experts — special guests. This is done to give an opportunity for active participation and a greater chance of winning to new businesses that have not yet been able to break through to the coveted statuette. All companies that cannot be nominated for the award this year are repeated and deserved winners of past years. These firms surely know which tools help attract loyal customers and win. And we, the editorial board of E1.RU, will definitely contact them and share the secrets of success,» explained Marina Malkova, editor-in-chief of E1.RU.
In practice, this means that in 2026, several companies that repeatedly received statuettes will not participate in voting. They become honorary guests of the award. Here is the full list of experts:
- Grott Bar
- Svoya Kompaniya
- Biskvitny Dvor
- UGMK-Zdorovye
- Bright Fit
- Yarkie Deti
- Narodny Barbershop Kuzma
These organizations will be invited to the final ceremony as special guests and asked to participate in creating editorial materials. However, their votes will not be counted, so they will not appear in the list of 2026 finalists.
2026 Categories
- Leisure of the Year
- Medical Center of the Year
- Dentistry of the Year
- Made in the Urals
- Educational Center of the Year
- National Cuisine of the Year
- Beauty Salon and Cosmetology of the Year
- Sports Center of the Year
- Automotive Business of the Year
- Employer of the Year in Yekaterinburg
- Business of the Year (editor«s choice)
Award Schedule
- 20 July to 17 August — Nominee submission. Yekaterinburg residents can suggest companies worthy of reaching the final.
- 18 and 19 August — The editorial board will tally the first stage results and form a shortlist: each category will have ten finalists.
- 19 August to 24 September — Voting. E1.RU readers will choose the winners.
- 25 September — Award ceremony at KKT Kosmos, where the best companies will be announced.
You can nominate a company on the award website: e1.ru/award. The full list of winners of the E1.RU People«s Award 2025 is available via the link, and the recording of the ceremony can be seen in the report.
