The XXII award ceremony for the «Smart Scholarship» contest winners took place on December 5. Center-invest Bank and the «Education and Science of the Southern Federal District» Endowment Fund allocated 12.5 million rubles for scholarships to 250 best students.

In 2024, almost 5,000 applicants from 24 leading universities of Rostov Region, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod and the Republic of Adygea presented their progress and business projects to the Contest Committee. 2,489 students submitted information on their business projects.

The Contest Committee evaluates the applicants’ financial literacy level, ability to practice their knowledge in business and willingness to roll out their own projects that are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

In the end, the jury selected 250 works from the best students, who received personal scholarships from Center-invest Bank and the «Education and Science of the Southern Federal District» Endowment Fund. The scholarship amount was 50,000 rubles for each finalist of the contest.

The award ceremony for the winners was opened by a video greeting to the participants from Olga Petrova, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation: «We thank Center-invest Bank for helping us find the best students for 22 years now. I wish the scholarship holders not to rest on their oars, to dream, to set ambitious goals, and we will create all the conditions to make your dreams come true.»

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Center-invest Bank, Doctor of Economics, Professor Vasily Vysokov addressed the winners with advice: «Use your knowledge and expertise, have the courage to see the unobvious, to do the improbable and to achieve the impossible in cooperation with other talented people and Center-invest Bank.»

In 2024, the bank launched a new project, Qi Flow. The project contains the necessary information for successful study, self-development, and career building. At the award ceremony, Center-invest Bank and Qi Flow presented three additional awards for «The Most Interesting Project,» «The Kindest Project,» and «The Best Video.»

Supporting able-minded and talented youth is the priority mission of the bank’s social and educational projects. Center-invest Bank and the Endowment Fund have been awarding this smart scholarship since 2002. Over 22 years of the contest’s existence, more than 40,000 people participated in it and more than 6,000 students were awarded with the scholarship. The capital of the «Education and Science of the Southern Federal District» Fund amounts to RUB 307 million, making it the largest endowment fund in Southern Russia today.