Novokuznetsk has wrapped up the first day of the federal stage of the "Best in Profession" in All-Russian Professional Skills Competition the "Flame-Cutting Torch Operator" category.
The organizer of the final is JSC SGMK. Partners in hosting the event are Noviy Vtormet and the "Pro Lom Union" SRO Association of Scrap Processors.
The first day of this large-scale event brought together at a single venue the strongest masters from 12 regions of Russia – from Lipetsk Region to Khabarovsk Territory – along with participants in the industry-specific competition for scrap processing workers, the "Best in Profession – Noviy Vtormet Cup 2026." In total, more than 40 competitors.
"Kuzbass is one of Russia's main industrial centers, and it is a great honor for us to host the final featuring the best flame-cutting torch operators from across the country. Our President, Vladimir Putin, has set a strategic task for the nation – to ensure technological and industrial sovereignty. And it is precisely the high skill, golden hands, and dedication of flame-cutting torch operators that make achieving this goal possible. May this final bring you a unique experience and help each of you fully unlock your enormous potential," said Ilya Seredyuk, Kemerovo Region Governor, in a video greeting.
The official opening ceremony set a high tempo for the event from its very first minutes. Powerful energy and sincere wishes of good luck created the atmosphere of a genuine celebration at the venue.
"The federal stage of the competition is being held in Kuzbass for the first time – for our industrial region, this is a truly landmark event," said Elena Voronina, Deputy Chairman of the Kuzbass Government for Social Development. "I want to express enormous gratitude to SGMK. As a responsible employer, the company initiated the holding of the federal final here in Kuzbass and provided comprehensive support for the project. This is a vivid example of effective partnership between business, education, and the state in training highly skilled masters for the mining and metallurgical industry. I wish all participants a fair and beautiful contest! May every movement you make at the venue be precise and calculated. And may these days become not just a competition but a milestone of professional growth and an exchange of best practices."
Alexey Vasilchuk, Deputy Director of the Competence Center for Organizing Special Projects in the Personnel Sphere at Federal State Budgetary Institution All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Labor under Russia's Ministry of Labor (the competition operator), offered important words: "Each of you is already the best – you made it through a rigorous selection at the regional stages. But now the moment of truth has arrived: you need to give it everything you've got and prove who the absolute leader is at the federal level. I wish everyone the best of luck!"
"I'm glad to see all of you here," Anton Rybkin, Deputy General Director for Commerce at JSC SGMK, addressed the competitors on behalf of the organizers. "Our competition is growing and opening new horizons, and today we welcome new strong teams. Your work is of colossal importance – because the future of our industry lies in your professions and in you personally. I sincerely thank all the participating teams for coming and competing for the title of best, despite these challenging times. May the strongest win!"
The first day of the competition, by and large, served as the main theoretical exam for participants. Testing knowledge is the first step toward victory – it sets the bar for the stages that follow.
"Everything is beautifully done and interesting. The equipment is modern, with a completely different control system – we've never worked on anything like it. When you sit in the crane cabin and see monitors in front of you, you experience incredible emotions. The tasks are well chosen – challenging enough, but doable. I made just three frustrating mistakes: I got a bit tangled up in the numbers while determining parameter values. Most importantly, we had a chance to get better acquainted with colleagues from other companies," shared Tatiana Prootseva, a crane operator at UralMetKom LLC and a participant in the industry competition.
"This is my first time in Kuzbass – I came from the town of Vyksa in Nizhny Novgorod Region. Novokuznetsk won me over immediately – it's huge and beautiful; our scale back home is more modest," says Alexander Privezenov, a flame-cutting torch operator at Ekolant LLC and a participant in the federal stage. "This isn't my first professional skills competition: in 2019, I competed at an OMK venue, and I came here as a winner of the corporate stage. The hardest thing today was overcoming my nerves. You'd think you do this work every day, but at a competition the emotions go through the roof, your hands shake as if you'd picked up a torch for the first time in your life. And I took the theory test like an exam back at vocational school…"
"The results of the first day are encouraging: all competitors demonstrated a high level of preparation," says Olga Letyaeva, chief expert for the federal stage of the "Best in Profession" competition in the "Flame-Cutting Torch Operator" category. "The masters proved that their daily work is grounded in solid, systematic knowledge – and that their sixth-level certifications are the result of that knowledge and their wealth of experience."
On the second, decisive day of the competition, Russia's strongest flame-cutting torch operators will demonstrate jeweler-like precision, maximum speed, and the highest class of manual cutting. The practical round will settle everything and determine the names of the country's best masters.