Published on: 2026-07-27
Source: KAMAZ – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The Open Professional Skills Competition “Best City Bus Driver on Regular Passenger Routes” has concluded in Naberezhnye Chelny, with “KAMAZ” acting as the general sponsor. More than 50 representatives from 40 cities in Russia and Belarus competed for the title of best and the main prize – a “Moskvich” car.
The ceremonial closing of the contest took place at the Maidan of Pribrezhnoy Park. From the stage, the contest participants and winners were greeted by State Duma deputy of the Russian Federation Alfya Kogogina, Deputy General Director of PJSC “KAMAZ” for Sales and Service Anton Saraykin, Deputy Minister of Transport and Road Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Khisamutdinov, and Head of the City Executive Committee Farid Salakhov.
Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Alfia Kogogina addressed the organizers and participants of the competition. “It is a great honor for me, on behalf of the State Duma, to welcome you and true men – bus drivers. I want to express heartfelt gratitude to those who organized this competition, thanks to whom we have observed the professionalism of our guys for two days. Many thanks to the drivers for their philosophy of adhering to the golden rules of road safety.”, – the parliamentarian noted, also thanking the participants for their high professionalism and responsible attitude towards the matter.
“For our city, machine builders, it is becoming a good tradition to hold professional skills competitions for drivers. But a bus driver competition of this scale — with the best representatives of the profession coming from across the country and brotherly Belarus — is a first for us. It is a great honor for us., noted Deputy General Director for Sales and Service of PJSC KAMAZ Anton Saraykin. – And it is very symbolic that the competition took place in the anniversary year for our company and the city. The leader also emphasized the importance and value of the bus driver’s profession.“You are truly the soul of technology,– he addressed the contest participants and all professionals. “You are the ones who bring the mechanisms to life, who start the motion. We are the makers of the machinery, you are the soul of this machinery. There are no losers here, you are the best in your profession.”
Head of the Naberezhnye Chelny executive committee Farid Salakhov noted that the competition became a continuation of the city’s sports traditions. “Our city is the capital of truck manufacturing, truck motorsport, and develops many technical sports. It is a great honor for us to hold the competition for drivers of large buses. We achieved this thanks to the support of PJSC KAMAZ and Sergey Anatolyevich Kogogin personally. Once again, we saw that great professionals are behind the wheel of public transport.”, he said.
The keys to the “Moskvich 3” car, provided by the main sponsor of the competition – PJSC “KAMAZ” as the grand prize, were handed to the winner by Anton Saraykin. The leader of the contest was the participant from Naberezhnye Chelny, Alexander Volkov. To the applause of the spectators, he made a lap of honor in the new car.
The “silver” of the competition was won by Ramil Safin from Chelny. He received 200,000 rubles and a refrigerator. The “bronze” went to a guest from Minsk, Alexander Yukhnovich. He was awarded a cash prize of 100,000 rubles and a washing machine. Alexander shared that he has participated many times in various driver competitions, but Naberezhnye Chelny impressed him with a warm welcome and a high level of event organization.
The names of the winners in various categories were also announced — they received 50,000 rubles and washing machines. The title of “Best Rookie” was won by Vadim Matveev from Kazan. He noted that the challenges were difficult, but his experience working with NEFAZ buses, which are the majority in the capital of Tatarstan, allowed him to succeed. The best expert on traffic rules was Alexander Zuev from Kostroma. The strongest on the high-speed driving track was recognized as Sergey Ivanov from Moscow. The best on the comfortable driving track was Sergey Prokhorov from Naberezhnye Chelny. A special prize from PJSC KAMAZ was awarded to driver Rinat Abdyushev from Saransk, who is a participant in the special military operation.
The closing of the contest was as impressive as the opening. On the Maidan grounds, an exhibition of buses produced by the KAMAZ Group of Companies and Moskvich passenger cars was organized for the guests. Creative teams from the city performed on stage. The parade of contest participants took place again – to the applause of the audience, the drivers walked to the center of the Maidan. The festive evening concluded with a concert by the honored artist of the Republic of Tatarstan, Firdus Tyamaev, and the band Safari.
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