On Saturday, April 14, 2007, Kyiv hosted the awards ceremony of the All-Ukrainian Youth Competition “The New Intellect of Ukraine.” The competition was organized with support from the International Charity Fund “Ukraine-3000” and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Nearly 900 young people between the ages of 16 and 35 from every region of Ukraine competed for prizes in four fields and three age groups.
Young intellectuals, researchers in economics or the humanities, authors of business plans and social ideas, and students who submitted abstracts of their diploma papers passed the initial selection procedure at the regional level and then assembled in Kyiv. Topics in the fields of economics and the humanities were formulated by the competition organizers, while business plans and social ideas were purely their authors’ creations.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this kind of competition, as it makes young people more confident of their abilities and teaches them to engage in research work. “Not only the state but the entire Ukrainian society must do their utmost to support talented young people and give them an opportunity to contribute to the development of our state by helping them realize their talents and skills,” said Kateryna Yushchenko, head of the fund’s supervisory board. “We need to understand that Ukraine will be able to occupy a worthy place in the world community only if it uses and develops to the greatest possible extent the things generously bestowed on it by the Lord-the nation’s intellect and brainpower.”
All the winners of the competition barely fit on the stage of Kyiv Mohyla Academy’s Cultural and Art Center. Many of them gained recognition by trial and error, participating in the intellectual competition for the third or even fifth time. Oleksandra Yukhno, a prize winner in economics, is a student at Donetsk National Technical University. One of her lecturers urged her to submit a paper entitled “Environment Protection Activity: When Will We Finally Act?” which raises both environmental and economic problems. “I observed that a country’s GDP growth is accompanied by a concomitant increase in harmful emissions. In my paper I propose a formula for cutting emissions without the accompanying loss of GDP. I will definitely continue working along these lines to find the point of balance,” she said.
Natalia Bihun from the village of Pliashevo in Rivne oblast received 5,000 hryvnias for her award-winning business plan “Sites of Cossack Glory.” She explains: “Our family is active in green tourism and operates a museum of landmark Cossack gravesites. We rent fishing gear, saddle horses, and firewood for making fish soup on an open fire. In my business plan I described the improvements I will be able to make with this money and the expected profits.” A budding businesswoman, Natalia plans to purchase a saddle, fishing rods, skis, and some furniture for the house, erect a signboard, build a sauna, among other things.
The competition’s jury boards at the national and regional level included lecturers, government officials, experts, and entrepreneurs. All the winners of this intellectual challenge received 800 to 5,000 hryvnias in prizes, as well as a copy of the encyclopedia 1901-2001 Nobel Prize Winners.
