National standards for managing projects, programs, and project portfolios came into force in Russia on September 1, 2012. The developers of these standards, including PM Expert, a company of ARMADA Group (MICEX-RTS: ARMD), participated in a press conference held on September 11 in Moscow.

“The application of standards is expected, among other things, to improve Russia’s economic climate,” said Yevgeny Petrosyan, deputy head of the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart), opening the press conference. Alexey Polkovnikov, managing partner at Project Practice group of companies, and Alexander Kutuzov, general director at PM Expert, who participated in the work group, which operated for more than 4 years to develop the standards, took the floor after Petrosyan.

Alexander Kutuzov pointed out that the new standards would primarily benefit projects commissioned by the government. He noted that the Russian project management market is in its early stage of development. In the U.S., 38 out 50,000 people hold project management certificates. In China, this metric stands at 22, and only certified professionals are allowed to manage government projects. In Russia, only 1 out of 50,000 people has the relevant credentials.

PM Expert aims to enhance and promote project management practices in order to bolster efficiency of local, national and global project management initiatives in Russia. The company has currently issued training certificates to about 25% of all project management professionals on the domestic market.