Artur Mikhailov from Chuvashia won the VI All-Russian professional competition “The Best Taxi Driver in Russia”. Second place went to Ilya Skurikhin from Kirov, third place went to Luiza Badreeva from Kazan.
The winner received the main prize — a Lada Vesta car — and 150 thousand rubles from the organizers: the government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Public Council for Taxi Development. Participants who took 2nd and 3rd places were awarded 100 thousand and 50 thousand rubles, respectively.
Theory, practice and creativity
The federal stage of the All-Russian competition “The Best Taxi Driver in Russia” has ended in Kazan. 32 winners of the regional stages of the competition took part in it. Over the course of two days — July 9 and 10, 2024 — taxi drivers competed in three competitive rounds.
In the first, theoretical, they answered difficult questions from different areas: transport and taxi legislation, the basics of first aid, traffic rules. In addition, the examiners checked the drivers' knowledge of the history and culture of Russia.
The second round is practical. Here the contestants competed in races in the “Sprint Slalom” format. Duel». They had to cover the distance in passenger cars without mistakes and in the best time. As expected, taxi drivers, before getting behind the wheel, underwent a medical examination using modern equipment for remote medical monitoring.
Traditionally, the most striking was the third round — a creative competition. This year it was decided to dedicate it to small towns in Russia. The participants spoke about their native places with songs, poems and dances. The jury assessed individuality, originality and skill in presentation. It’s nice that this year’s participants were actively helped by members of their families: not only taxi drivers, but also their loved ones performed on stage.
Non-competition life
At the federal stage of the competition “Best Taxi Driver in Russia” “Representatives of regional executive authorities, representatives of leading ordering services and the taxi business always come. This year was no exception.
The Office of the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Tatarstan held an interregional meeting at which the implementation of the law on taxis, modern technologies, personnel issues, transportation safety, problems of the self-employed and other topics were discussed. Minister of Transport and Road Facilities of the Republic of Tatarstan Farit Hanifov raised at the meeting the issue of integrating carriers with municipal transport, taking into account regional characteristics and the needs of large cities.
This year, interest was shown in the federal stage of the competition “Best Taxi Driver in Russia” many media. Journalists and famous bloggers came to the site. Moreover, for the first time in the history of the competition, the authors of popular Internet channels decided to experience for themselves what it’s like to compete for the title of best taxi driver. Together with the participants, they answered questions from the theoretical round and took part in practical races. According to them, the path to a high rank and a treasured car is not at all easy.
