Following the results of the All-Russian Exporter of the Year 2015 contest, Tatarstan was announced the winner as the “Leader in Exports among the Regions of the Russian Federation”. The contest was jointly held by the Russian Exports Centre (REC) and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. The main criterion for the participants was the development of non-oil exports in 2015. The contest identified the most successful organisations working in the non-oil sector of the economy. On 30 November 2016, Moscow saw the ceremony of awarding the winners of the Exporter of the Year 2015 contest.
The Best Russian Exporter Award was established in 1998. Since 2008, the contest is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation with a view of supporting exports of industrial products, facilitating domestic exports and creating incentive mechanisms.
In 2015, the name of the contest and the participant selection criteria were changed: the "Exporter of the Year" title was awarded to various exporting entities, including large exporters, small and medium-sized exports businesses, credit institutions, and regions of the Russian Federation.