UK/RUSSIA - Callund Consulting has been named British Small Consultancy Firm of the Year in recognition of its work on pension reform in Russia.

The awards, presented by HRH Duke of Gloucester on behalf of the British Consultants’ Bureau, recognise the success of the UK professional services industry throughout the world.

Callund won the award in the Category ‘Organisational or Non-Visual Projects’.

Matthias Zeeb, project manager and a director at Callund Consulting, comments "We are very pleased to win this award. Russia’s pension reform is due to come into effect in just a few weeks, so it is quite timely. The pension reform will affect millions of people in Russia, and our project helped ensure a far better-informed debate."

Throughout 2000, Callund Consulting, with the financial support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), supported the Pension Fund of Russia by developing proposals to reform ‘privileged’ pensions – privileged entitlements which have historically allowed early retirement for a wide variety of workers, at a substantial cost to the Russian budget. The reform proposals developed under the project were taken up as one plank of the Russian Government’s overall reform strategy.

Under the project, training was also provided, to help strengthen the Pension Fund’s capacity to develop future policy options and assess their financial, economic and social consequences.

With the support of DFID, Callund Consulting is continuing to assist the Pension Fund during the implementation of the reforms.