The first semi-final of the IEK 2026 International Electrical Engineering Championship was held

The first semi–final of the IEK - 2026 Electrical Engineering Championship was held in Yasnogorsk, Tula region. The participants were 15 electricians from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Belgorod, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vologda and Lipetsk regions, representing the "Professionals" and "Juniors" leagues. They fought for the right to reach the finals of the Championship, which will be held in Ulyanovsk in the fall.

The Yasnogorsk Technological College became the venue for the semi-final..

"The Championship is a tool for identifying the professional qualities of its participants. First of all, we use it to train specialists for the industry, confirm their qualifications, and develop them. Natalia Migalina, the director of the college, provided us with great support during this semi-final. The help of specialists of this level is very important when working with future electricians," said Natalia Belskaya, HR Director at IEK GROUP. ― Representatives of working professions in our time, in addition to good professional training, should be open to new things, especially now, when new technologies are developing so rapidly, not to be afraid of changes, to be sociable and responsible."

The competition for a place in the semi-finals was high: 300 electricians from eight federal districts of Russia took part in the qualifying stage, and only 15 became semi-finalists. These are the top 10 specialists in the Professionals League and the top 5 in the Juniors league.

The participants had to complete two tasks in a certain amount of time. In the module "Installation" ― to install the electrical installation, "Programming" ― to create a control program for the HMI panel in the ONI Visual Studio program. Following the results of the competition, all semi-finalists received an international Skills Passport, confirming their qualifications according to the BRICS standard.

The winners and prize-winners of the first semi-final were:

The Juniors League

Mikhail Pavlov ― "gold"

Damir Kharrasov ― "silver"

Georgy Martynov ― "bronze"

The Professionals League

Vitaly Osinovsky ― "gold"

Pavel Tretyakov ― "silver"

Alexey Zlobin ― "bronze"

Three winners of the semi―finals will qualify for the final of the championship - two representatives of the league "Professionals" and one "Juniors". They will compete for the main prize of the competition ― cash certificates and points for admission to the National Research University "MEI".

The finalists will also be invited to participate in the final of the International High-tech Professions Championship "High-tech: Skills of the Future". IEK GROUP and the High-tech organizer ARPM are partners.

While the contestants were completing the task, the guests of the semi-final, among whom were students, practitioners and pupils from schools in the Yasnogorsky district, studied IEK's novelties with interest, participated in exciting master classes conducted by the company's specialists, and won prizes in competitions. The IEK GROUP has prepared career guidance events for schoolchildren, during which they got acquainted with the profession of an electrician.

After the competition, the participants of the first semi-final in Yasnogorsk and the guests of the event visited the IEK GROUP's Metal-Plast production complex. Here they got acquainted with the production process of the equipment and took part in the opening of the exhibition space, where the products manufactured by the company in Russia are presented. Visiting production sites is an innovation of this year's IEK Electricians' Championship. For electricians, this is a unique opportunity to see with their own eyes how devices they know well are made, from the idea to the assembly.

The next semi-final of the IEK Electricians' Championship will be held on April 21 in Kazan. The IEK Electricians' Championship is one of the largest industry professional skill competitions. Since 2025, the championship has reached an international level and collects thousands of applications from participants from Russia and the CIS.