As every year, on New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve, we summarize the results of the past year and set plans for the future.
This year has been interesting and busy for all of us. It has presented our team with many new challenges, but it has also offered many new opportunities for development. There have been many achievements as well as challenges to overcome.
This year, our company has succeeded in achieving the goals we set. The successes in working under sanctions and in overcoming the aftermath of the COVID crisis seem particularly valuable to me.
Despite all the difficulties, we are growing and developing. We managed to open a branch in Kazakhstan this year and to prepare everything necessary for the opening of the branch in Turkey in the near future. We have also translated our website into Turkish and Kazakh, so our services are currently available in 8 languages.
Our team's ability to withstand the crisis has shown that we have remained true to our development strategy, which is focused on achieving long-term goals and market leadership.
Our main objectives in consolidating our leadership position are to improve our business processes and systems to ensure the high quality of our services, so that we continue to be an attractive proposition for our current and future customers in more than 150 countries around the world.
In the past year, we continued to work intensively on developing and optimizing our website, which is our most important channel for acquiring and communicating with customers. In addition to a number of technical improvements, we published more than 500 news and information articles.
We continue to focus on a scientific and analytical approach to management decision-making and risk-based thinking in order to be prepared for a dynamically changing reality.
The accumulation, expansion and systematization of knowledge and the systematic training of employees also remain important to us. The success of the past year would not have been possible without the efforts of a talented, intelligent and hard-working team, and I am proud to be part of that team. Despite the challenges of the year, we were able to retain our team and increase employee salaries.
Setting the bar high in recruiting has been and continues to be the most important element in Schmidt & Schmidt's success. Working for us is not easy, but we work hard for our clients! We will continue to strive to strengthen our team and attract young, ambitious people who want to try their hand at international consulting.
Last year, we passed inspection control and confirmed our compliance with ISO standards in the areas of quality management, information security and environmental management.
We look forward to the new year 2023, and the successes we have achieved motivate all members of our hardworking, attentive and talented team to achieve even more.
We are immensely grateful to our customers for their trust. I wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!