EkoNiva has held a skiing competition for its team at the first weekend of February in Buturlinovka district, Voronezh oblast. About 30 employees of the holding’s local enterprises and their family members took part in the event.

Every year, it is the ski races that open the sports season at EkoNiva. For the second time already, they have been run in a modern roller skiing centre accredited for holding nationwide competitions.

‘This is one of the best ski tracks in Russia, so it is in an excellent condition. The weather has lived up to our hopes, too. All we need to do is just to step on the track and have a blast’, says Sergey Zharikov, Deputy Regional Director for Economics and Finance at EkoNivaAgro.

Before the start, the participants representing EkoNivaAgro and EkoNiva-Chernozemye were divided into five categories. Men and teenage boys had to run three kilometres, while women, girls and children needed to cover half the distance.

In the first race, which would bring out the strongest young skier, Yegor Zharikov took first place among the boys clocking 4 minutes and 57 seconds. Oleg Makiyev came second and Dmitriy Morenko third. The girls' gold medal went to Kira Kolosova, and Raisa Fursova won the silver one. The youngest participants were awarded commendations and gift tokens for sports and book shops.

Aleksandr Popov showed the best result among the teenagers, outrunning Aleksandr Nikolayev and Mikhail Vichugov.

The men’s and women’s races turned out to be the most spectacular and tough ones. It took the three leaders 11 minutes to cover the distance. Sergey Stoyakin, Service Technician at EkoNiva-Chernozemye, was the first to cross the finish line. Sergey Zharikov came just immediately after him. Daniil Savchuk, Senior Service Technician at EkoNivaAgro-South, took third place.

‘I love the fact that our company strongly promotes a healthy lifestyle and opens up opportunities for every employee to take part in sports competitions. So, I would like to thank our management for the excellent organisation of the ski races and for creating an informal setting where we can communicate with each other’, shares Daniil Savchuk.

The women's competition for medals was no less interesting. Seven minutes after the start, Lyubov Izyumenko, Livestock Breeder at EkoNivaAgro-Left Bank, reached the finish line to win the race. Marina Zubkova, Livestock Breeder at EkoNivaAgro-South, collected the silver medal. Vera Rebrun, Health and Safety Officer at EkoNivaAgro-Right Bank, rounded out the top three.

To sum up the competitions, an awards ceremony was held, where the prize-winners and participants received souvenirs, gift tokens, commendations and medals. The company’s fans of active recreation will soon be delighted to take part in the traditional ice fishing tournament.

‘The current sports season will cover more than 15 different sporting events, including football, volleyball, table tennis, fishing, billiards competitions and relay races. Throughout the year, we are going to organise corporate games involving over 500 employees of EkoNiva's Voronezh enterprises’, says Anatoliy Kovalyov, Chairman of the Trade Union Committee at EkoNivaAgro.