The XXI award ceremony for the «Smart Scholarship» contest winners took place. 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.

«Smart Scholarship» is an annual contest for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students to win a personal scholarship from the bank and the «Education and Science of the Southern Federal District» Endowment Fund.

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 2023, more than 5 thousand applicants from 22 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. More than 2 thousand students submitted information on their business projects.

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.

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 21 years of the contest’s existence, more than 35,000 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 207 million rubles, making it the largest endowment fund in Southern Russia today.