The event brought together finalists and their mentors, schoolchildren and students of secondary vocational education institutions, representatives of foreign delegations and expert community, top managers of major Russian Corporations to be partners of the Championship.

The Festival was opened by the children’s choir “Perezvony” and the winner of the project “The Voice. Children” Andrey Averin, accompanied by the Mariinsky Theatre brass band; they performed the Anthem of the Russian Federation. The ceremony was continued with the parade of the regions participating in the Finale: volunteers carried flags of the constitutional entities of Russia, clearly showing the scale of the geography of the All-Russian Occupational Skills Championship Movement.

For preserving the continuity of generations, the time capsule with the Championship Movement chronicle to be supplemented by new participants from year to year, was handed over to Olga Shemchuk, Director of the Central State Archive of St. Petersburg. The finalists confirmed that their professional intentions are earnest, by giving the solemn professional oath, promising themselves, each other and the country to continuously study and protect their occupational reputation.

The role of the Occupational Skills Championship for the country was outlined by Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, 

“Today is an important, historic day, we have been advancing towards it for a long time. For the first time, on November 24, 2023, the Final of the Championship “Professionals”, with almost 700 contestants to take part, starts. The total number of participants, including regional ones, is over
120 thousand persons. Secondary vocational education currently develops rapidly. Thanks to our President’s support, colleges are being equipped, Day of Secondary Vocational Education has been introduced, the Competition “Master of the Year” and the Championship “Professionals” have been established. In Veliky Novgorod, the High-Tech Championship was held. And, of course, the flagship project “Professionalism” unites enterprises of leading industries and makes training at colleges and technical schools practice-focused”, said Sergey Kravtsov from the stage of the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has set the task of training one million qualified personnel over the next five years. Positive forecasts for implementing the task, given modernization of educational institutions of secondary vocational education (SPO), were announced by Aleksander Beglov, Governor of St. Petersburg.

“Technological independence, which we strive for by implementing the order of the President of Russia, is only the first step. Our shared task is technological leadership. The country and the city have all capacities for this. But for solving problems of particular complexity, we need high-quality personnel. Strong, smart, responsible, bright ones. These are the boys and girls to have come to take part in this competition”, said the head of the Northern Capital.

Having awarded honorary workers of professional education, Aleksander Beglov and Sergey Kravtsov switched on the symbolic lever of the mechanism, indicating the start of the Finale of the 1st Occupational Skills Championship “Professionals”.

The ceremony was hosted by Timur Solovyov, the host of popular shows on “Pervyi Kanal” and “Muz-TV”. The celebration of high digital technologies on stage and in the hall organically combined with skills of professional actors. The opening ceremony ended with the performance of the musical group “Vmeste”, which charged for new achievements and victories.

The Championship “Professionals” will last until November 28, with the estimated number of participants of about 50 thousand people. Almost
700 contestants, including representatives of 62 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, 68 participants sent by the country’s leading enterprises, and 45 foreign contestants, will compete in 35 competencies in the main age category, and 20 from each category – among juniors. These are the most popular areas of the economy, related to construction and housing, IT, industry, medicine, and transport.

Besides the main venue at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre, remote ones are organized in vocational education institutions, including the Fire and Rescue College and the Technical School “Avtoservis”. Specialized venues are also provided by JSC “Vozdushnye Vorota Severnoy Stolitsy”, the Oktyabrskaya Railway and some enterprises of St. Petersburg.