The second semi-final of the IEK Electricians' Championship ended in Kazan

The second semi—final of the IEK - 2026 Electrical Engineering Championship was held in Kazan on April 21. It was attended by 15 electricians who showed the best results in the online qualifying round.

"This is the second semi-final this year, and it clearly shows how the professionalism of electrical installers has grown: against the background of increasing technology complexity, the industry especially needs highly qualified specialists. It is symbolic that Kazan, a landmark city for the IEK GROUP, where large LEDEL and FEREKS lighting companies joined the holding a few years ago and a new stage of the company's development was launched, can now become the starting point for the careers of the participants," says Natalia Belskaya, HR Director of the IEK GROUP.

The event was held at the Kazan Energy College ― the IEK GROUP has been cooperating with this educational institution for a long time. The organizers of the semi-final were the IEK GROUP and the Agency for the Development of Professional Skills.

Experienced and novice electricians from the "Professionals" and "Juniors" leagues competed at two venues, that is, those who already have more than two years of work experience, and those who are still studying or have recently started work. Despite the different levels of training, the tasks were the same: to assemble a working electrical installation from IEK GROUP products, and to write a control algorithm in FBD in the ONI PLR Studio program.

According to Andrey Mochalkin, the main expert of the semi-final, the competitive task of the second semi-final included working with the new products of the IEK GROUP. This is a parapet cable duct, which differs from analogues in that it allows you to install the same amount of equipment with a smaller amount of space, new series of electrical installation products, special tools, new indicator buttons for push-button posts, as well as a new version of ONI PLR Studio, which makes it possible to work with a wider range of equipment.

Yaroslav Ermoshin won the first place in the Professionals league, Ruzal Zinnatullin won the second, and Robert Nasyrov won the third. In the Junior League, Danil Khisamutdinov won gold, Le Toin Tu won silver, and Sabir Utkuzov won bronze. The winners were awarded IEK GIFTS cash certificates, and the winners of the first and second places among professionals and the gold medal among juniors also received tickets to the finals of the IEK Electricians Championship. There they will compete for the main prize of the competition, as well as for entry to the International Championship of High-tech professions "High-tech: skills of the future".

All participants of the semi-final received an International Skills Passport, confirming their qualifications according to the BRICS standard and the opportunity to undergo an independent qualification assessment. A bonus was an excursion to the production of the IEK GROUP, where the company produces lighting equipment under the brands FEREKS and LEDEL.

"We thank Kazan Energy College for providing a venue for the semi-finals. In turn, we are pleased to host the best electricians from several regions," says Valery Bobryshov, Director of the IEK GROUP lighting production complex in Kazan. ― Any electrician, even if lighting systems are not his specialty, should understand how lighting technology works, know its features and technical characteristics. Moreover, this area is also changing: energy-efficient solutions and smart lighting systems are being used more and more."

At the factory, the participants of the semi-final watched how aluminum housings for lighting products are cast, got acquainted with extrusion and assembly production. The company is equipped with modern production lines and also produces electronic components, LED modules and power supplies for lighting fixtures.

While the contestants completed the task, the guests took part in master classes, got acquainted with new products from IEK, and participated in prize draws.

On the same day, the college hosted a semi-final business program. Representatives of the IEK GROUP and TATEM JSC, the Agency for the Development of Professional Skills, the Headquarters of the Student Groups of the Volga Federal District, and the Kazan Energy College took part in it. The plenary session was devoted to tools for developing the human resources potential of Russian enterprises to achieve Russia's technological leadership at the global level. The speakers discussed, in particular, the impact of the championship movement on the training of specialists and labor productivity.