The seminar held in Ekaterinburg in February 2000 succeeded in raising the profile of civil society organizations and serving as a catalyst for further grass-roots activity. Since the conference, the two shareholder rights organizations have conferred with other key regional players, including businesses and institutes of higher learning, to design an ambitious program that will involve:

• A training program for corporate executives. The program will train 15 persons who head shareholder relations departments of large joint stock companies. The training will involve overall strategic management, including corporate governance. The project is being undertaken with a national foundation and two local universities.
  
  
• Discussions with three institutions of higher learning on introducing curricula on corporate governance.
  
  
• A series of seminars for joint stock companies on such issues as disclosure, the role of the audit, etc.
  
  
• Working with joint stock companies on voluntarily adopting polices based on the OECD's Corporate Governance principles. The text of the OECD principles are being sent to companies with a cover letter, which stresses that there is an 80%-90% overlap between the principles and corresponding Russian law.
  
  
• Further meetings and roundtables on corporate governance issues featuring securities market participants and respective government institutions (such as the Property Ministry, the Property Fund, and the regional branch of the Federal Securities Commission). The meetings will be timed with major corporate events.