CIS Awards

Applications OpenEdition 2026

CIS Finance Awards

The CIS Finance Awards is the independent benchmark for financial sector excellence across the Commonwealth of Independent States. In a region where banking assets exceed $1.2 trillion, fintech adoption is accelerating, and cross-border payment corridors are being rebuilt following geopolitical disruption, the CIS Finance Awards identifies the institutions, products and leaders setting the new standard — and makes their work visible to the industry that needs to know about it.

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Winners to date

Expert jurors

Award stages

From open submission to public results announcement — every stage has a defined start and close date.

1Active now
Applications Open
1 Mar — 31 May
2
Applications Close
1 Jun — 1 Jun
3
Jury Review
2 Jun — 31 Jul
4
Winners Announced
15 Sept — 15 Sept

— About the award

Why this award matters

The CIS financial services landscape is undergoing structural transformation. Kazakhstan's banking sector, dominated by Halyk Bank, Kaspi and Jusan, is among the most innovative in emerging markets, with mobile payments and super-app ecosystems reaching mass adoption. Russia's fintech sector has accelerated domestic payment infrastructure development through the Mir system and Faster Payments. Ukraine has one of Europe's most advanced digital banking sectors, with Monobank and PrivatBank competing on innovation speed. Uzbekistan's financial inclusion drive is creating new market entrants at scale, while Azerbaijan's banking consolidation is concentrating capital in more sophisticated institutions.

The CIS Finance Awards covers banking, insurance, investment management, crypto-asset services and fintech product innovation. Winning demonstrates that your institution or product has been evaluated by senior finance professionals from across the region — not a self-nominated panel. The independent jury includes former central bank officials, institutional investors and senior risk officers who bring institutional perspective to the evaluation.

— Who should enter

Who should enter

The award is built for professionals ready to present their work to an independent jury in a format the CIS market can judge clearly and fairly.

Digital and marketing leaders

CMOs, digital directors, heads of growth and brand managers who run campaigns and digital strategies at scale.

Agencies and delivery teams

Full-cycle agencies, specialist boutiques and in-house teams that can demonstrate measurable campaign outcomes.

Product and technology teams

Product managers, UX/UI designers and technology teams whose work has a measurable impact on user outcomes and business KPIs.

— What recognition gives you

What recognition gives you

A CIS award is not a badge. It is a public record of independent expert validation — and the market acts on that signal.

Regional market credibility

Winners appear in a public, indexable record of quality. Enterprise buyers, media partners and investors in the CIS region use the platform as a shortlist reference.

Tangible business outcomes

Winning an award has measurable impact on trust signals: website conversion uplift, inbound partnership enquiries and procurement shortlisting.

Talent and hiring signal

Teams use award recognition in employer branding, hiring pipelines and international expansion conversations.

Independent validation

Unlike internal nominations or paid placements, CIS Awards evaluation is done by an independent jury of regional senior practitioners — not by the award organiser.

— How submissions are evaluated

How submissions are evaluated

The jury evaluates every entry against transparent criteria. There is no self-nomination, no commercial bias and no predetermined outcome.

Result over assertion

Submissions are assessed on measurable outcomes: campaign data, revenue impact, user metrics and business KPIs. Judges look for evidence, not claims.

Context over scale

A well-executed campaign for a local market is evaluated alongside global-scale work. Context matters: judges are briefed on the CIS market conditions at the time.

Quality over budget

Spending more does not score higher. The evaluation framework rewards strategic thinking, creative execution and measurable efficiency — not the size of the media buy.

Independence over commercial visibility

Commercial relationships with the award organiser do not influence scoring. Jury members with conflicts of interest are recused from relevant categories.

Jury deliberations are confidential. Individual scores are not published. The outcome reflects collective professional consensus.

— What makes a strong submission

What makes a strong submission

CIS Finance Awards

Lead with the result

Start with the business outcome: revenue impact, efficiency gain, user growth or measurable brand metric. Judges read hundreds of entries — lead with what matters.

Show the context

Describe the challenge, the market conditions and the constraints. A great result without context is impossible to evaluate fairly.

Document the methodology

Include your measurement framework, attribution logic and the data sources used. Judges want to understand how results were achieved, not just that they were achieved.

Be specific about your role

Agency entries should make clear what the agency was responsible for versus the client. Individual entries should specify the team and the decision-making context.

Generic submissions that list services or make broad brand claims without evidence will not advance to final judging. Completeness matters.

— Winners

Recent winners

Independent recognition from a regional expert jury — not a self-nominated panel, not a paid placement.

See all winners

Winners to be announced

Results for this edition are not yet published. Follow the award timeline for the announcement date.

— Jury

Meet the jury

Senior practitioners from across the CIS region — CMOs, digital directors, product leads and technology leaders who evaluate every entry independently.

See all jury members

Artem Babenko

CEO

DataMind Analytics

Data science leader, former Head of Analytics at Sber. PhD in Computer Science.

Maria Kuznetsova

VP of Product

InDrive

Built products used by 200M+ users globally. Expert in mobile UX.

— Categories

Choose your competition

Each category has a specific evaluation brief. Choose based on what your case can demonstrate, not where it fits most conveniently.

View all categories

IndividualFree

Best CFO of the Year

Award for a CFO or VP Finance who demonstrated outstanding financial leadership, drove strategic capital allocation and delivered measurable improvements in financial performance, risk management or investor relations. Judged on financial strategy documentation, evidence of investor confidence impact and capital efficiency improvements. In CIS markets navigating currency volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, financial leadership of this calibre is especially valuable.

Agency & Team$99

Best Bank for Business

Award for a bank that demonstrably improved services for corporate clients across CIS markets. Judged on lending accessibility, digital banking capabilities, trade finance offerings and relationship management quality for business customers. Entries should include evidence of client retention, loan portfolio quality and measurable improvements in time-to-decision for credit facilities.

Product & Project$99

Best Fintech Product

Award for a fintech product that is measurably transforming how businesses or consumers access, manage or grow their money in CIS markets. Judged on innovation depth, user adoption, regulatory compliance track record and demonstrable financial impact. In markets where traditional banking infrastructure leaves gaps — Kaspi in Kazakhstan, SBP in Russia, Monobank in Ukraine — fintech products are building the infrastructure of financial future.

Agency & Team$99

Best Investment Company

Award for an investment management company or fund demonstrating outstanding portfolio performance, risk-adjusted returns and client service quality for institutional or HNW investors in CIS markets. Judged on documented investment track record, risk management framework and evidence of client value delivery. Entries from private equity, venture capital, asset management and family offices are all welcome.

Agency & Team$99

Best Insurance Company

Award for an insurance company demonstrating innovation in product design, digital distribution or claims experience that measurably improved customer outcomes in CIS markets. Judged on product innovation, digital channel adoption and evidence of claims experience improvement.

CIS Finance Awards

— Ready to enter?

Ready to enter?

Choose the route that fits your situation. Each path has a different timeline and evidence requirement.

Applications close when the submission window ends — late entries are not accommodated.

Enter as a participant

Choose your category, prepare your case and submit before the deadline. Standard submission window applies.

Apply now

Join as a jury expert

Senior practitioners with active market experience are invited to apply for jury positions. Expertise, not title, is the criterion.

Apply to join jury

Not sure which route fits?

Send a brief description of your case and we will help route you to the right programme and category.

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