Man and Company of the Year Award

Minister of Treasury in the PO-PSL government. A qualified surveyor, graduate of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow. Once an entrepreneur, he and his business partner managed a company that later formed the basis for Małopolska Grupa Geodezyjno-Projektowa. In the '90s he was a councillor and vice-prefect of the Pleśna borough, and later also the last voivode of the Tarnów province. He was a consultant for the World Bank and joined the Civic Platform in 2001.

[b]Tatyana Tolstaya, writer[/b]

Tatyana Tolstaya was born on 3 May 1951 in Leningrad. She is famous for a collection of short stories: "Na zołotom krylce sidieli”. Her first short story holding the same title was published in 1981 in "Avrora" magazine. Tolstaya graduated from Leningrad State University. In 1990 she moved to the USA to lecture on Russian literature at Princeton University. However, she has not moved overseas forever. She spends several months a year there, and resides permanently in Moscow. There she creates and hosts the television programme "School of slander".

[b]Ludwik Sobolewski, president of the Warsaw Stock Exchange[/b]

Traditions of the capital market in Poland go back to1817 when the first Warsaw Mercantile Exchange was established. In the current form the Warsaw Stock Exchange began its activity on 16 April 1991. It prides itself in the fact that at the very beginning it introduced the electronic trade in securities. The Warsaw Stock Exchange is a joint-stock company owned by the State Treasury. Within the last few years, discussions regarding the privatisation of the exchange have been vivid. The concept of the sale of the Warsaw exchange has changed several times. Although the idea to sell it to an industry investor has occurred, finally privatisation via stock exchange transaction has been selected. The Warsaw Stock Exchange prospectus has already been prepared.

—eg[/ramka]