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For the 11th year in a row, selected local citizens were awarded "Persons of the Year" medals for outstanding achievements

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - For the 11th year in a row, the annual "Pridnestrovie's Person of the Year" award took place in the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, also known as Transdniester or Transnistria.

Nearly 70 candidates were nominated among the population of almost 600,000 citizens (twice the size of Iceland, and equivalent to newly-independent Montenegro, the latest country to join the United Nations). For the past three weeks, a Tiraspol-based Persons of The Year Committee, headed by former Minister of Education Helen Bomeshko, sifted through the candidates and made their choices for the 2006 Men of the Year and 2006 Women of the Year in various categories.

Here's a highlight of some of the winners.

Science and education: Tatiana Payana, Woman of the year

Teacher from a village school near Grigoriopol. Started working at the school fourteen years ago, when shots rang out as Moldovan forces tried to establish sovereignty over the region but failed. Tatiana kept teaching all the students, including a large number of ethnic Moldovan children, and rose to become manager and director of the school.

Charity: Valentina Tsurkana, Woman of the year

Housewife, inhabitant of a village near Slobozya, in southern Pridnestrovie. Mother of three. She took in children of victims killed in the 1992 war for independence with Moldova and raised them as if they were her own. In her village home, she raised a total of 14 children and was hailed as an "example of the concept of charity" and an example of "social protection, guardianship and trusteeship."

Public health: Ibrahim Akperov, Man of the year

One of the country's best known medical doctors. For more than 30 years, this oncologist and surgeon has worked to save local lives, often under adverse conditions. In times of war and economic blockade, he gave freely of his time to save the lives of children hurt in the conflict, often despite a lack of medical supplies and equipment.

Law encorcement activity: Sergey Hankevic, Man of the year

The youngest of this year's winners, Hankevic - a police offers with the PMR interior ministry - put his life on the line in the fight against illegal drugs. He has also solved murders, and headed a division dedicated to confiscating unregistered firearms within Pridnestrovie's borders.

Peacekeeping: Oleg Gudymo, Man of the year

The person who did most to keep PMR safe this year was Oleg Gudymo, according to the nominators. He is currently head of the parliamentary Security Committee which oversees peacekeeping operations in the buffer zone where Moldova initiated attacks in a failed 1992 invasion attempt. In December, Gudymo broke ranks from Respublika lawmakers, the main backers of president Igor Smirnov, to form a new political party, the "People's Will of Pridnestrovie" (Narodnaya Volya).

Civic activity: Marina Smirnova, Woman of the year

Winner of the category for public and civic activity was Marina Smirnova, wife of Oleg Smirnov, the youngest son of president Igor Smirnov. She is head of Gazprombank, one of the largest local banks and owned by Gazprom, the world's third largest company in the world by market capitalization. She received the award for creating a large-scale social project called "Children's Planet" which provides assistance and advanced educational opportunities to thousands of local children regardless of ethnic background or social condition.

Urban economy, infrastructure and finances: Viktor Kostyrko, Man of the year

Mayor of Tiraspol, Viktor Kostyrko, received a Man of the the Year award for creativity and skill in finding off-budget sources of financing during 2006 in order to raise the standard of living of the inhabitants of the capital of Pridnestrovie. During the year, he established partnership agreements with city leaders abroad and obtained humanitarian and financial aid following the 3 March 2006 economic blockade where exports dropped 40% triggered by a change in customs rules imposed by two transit countries, Moldova and Ukraine.

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