Sixty-seven companies became winners of the Trademark of the Year contest, Info-Prim Neo reports. The contest was organized by the Chamber of Trade and Industry in cooperation with the State Agency on Intellectual Property Protection (AGEPI). It is aimed at promoting the brands and image of the national companies. The results of the contest are usually made public during the “Made in Moldova” exhibition. Thirty-seven of the 67 winning companies were awarded the Golden Mercury prize by Prime Minister Vlad Filat. The Premier congratulated the economic entities, praising them for coping with the challenges of the crisis and other difficulties and not stooping work. He reiterated that the government will continue to make effort to create favorable conditions for entrepreneurial activity, voicing hope that together, the government and the businesses, will make the country more prosperous and the living conditions better. The Chamber of Trade and Industry's chairman Gheorghe Cucu said that in a market economy where the competition is stiff and the companies fight for every client, the trademark can significantly influence the choice of the consumer. 160 trademarks of the 600 projects submitted by economic entities from 14 districts and the municipalities of Balti and Chisinau were awarded during the previous seven editions of the contest. All these brand names are now well-known and popular with the consumers. Among this year's winners of the contest are established companies and new companies that appeared during the last few years. 'The Prime Minister asked me how many times we have won the contest. It seems to me that we win it every year. The competition is stiff, but the prize is given in recognition of the work of our employees,” said Valentin Bodiul, director of the wine company Cricova. “We encountered problems with the exports to Russia, but we overcame them. Neither the Russian consumers, nor Onishchenko can say that our products are bad. I'm optimistic and if our vineyards are not affected by the severe frost, we will be able to raise production volume this year by at least 30%.” “2009 was a good year for our company. We implemented new technologies and improved the Internet services we provide. We have representative offices in such European cities as Bucharest, Amsterdam, London. Recently, we finished the interconnection works with a U.S. company so that all our customers will be satisfied with our services. We have a young, but professional team. I'm sure our company has a great future!” said administrative director of StarNet, Vladimir Machedon. For the first time this year, there were offered two “Trademark of the Year” grants of 1,000 lei a month, which are paid by economic entities. The awards are intended for students from deprived families. They were given to Natalia Botnariuc, who is a student of the Academy of Music, Theater and Plastic Arts, and to Pavel Ungureanu, of the Police Academy “Stefan cel Mare”, who is the eighth child in a family with 19 children from Capriana district of Straseni district.