The South Ukraine nuclear power plant hosted a professional skills competition among young employees of the Motor Transport Department. For the first time in the competition's history, a woman took part in it. Victoria Tarasova confidently outflanked her rivals in both theoretical and practical stages and deservedly won the title of the best light motorcar driver.

This year, nine young drivers (under 35 years old) of the SUNPP Motor Transport Department participated in the professional skills competition. For the first time in the competition's history, a woman joined the traditional male company.

Traditionally, the competition was held in two stages: theoretical and practical. A special commission consisting of representatives of the Motor Transport Department, the SUNPP Training Center, and the Youth Organization evaluated the participants. Theoretical knowledge was checked using tests. The contestants had to answer 20 questions on traffic rules. This year's debutant, Victoria Tarasova, was the first to cope with the task and achieved the best result. However, successful completion of the theoretical stage does not guarantee victory, the jury noted. The overall result of the competition can be significantly affected by the performance of practical tasks.

“I am pleased to observe how masterfully and confidently our young drivers drive their vehicles. Such competitions strengthen the spirit of competition and help to achieve better results. I wish all participants further development, up-skilling, and accident-free driving,” said Petro Forostianyi, Director of the Motor Transport Department of the affiliate “SS SUNPP“.

In the practical part of the competition, each participant had the opportunity to prove their driving skills by performing nine different exercises: S-turn, backing into a parking lot, tunnel turn, driving across a track, overpass, complex U-turn, parking in a limited space, driving with a change of lane and stopping with the front wheels at a stop line. The young drivers drove a Skoda Octavia under the close supervision of the jury, which took into account the speed and cleanliness of the passage.

Based on the results of both stages, a young lady-driver, Victoria Tarasova, won. She has been working for the company for less than a year but has considerable experience in driving. Since childhood, she has spent a lot of time with her father and even then began to dream of a seemingly purely male profession of a long-distance truck driver. She even chose the appropriate specialty at an agricultural university. However, according to Victoria, life happened in such a way that studying, marriage, and then a long maternity leave and raising three children postponed her dream for a while. And now, finally, she derives real pleasure from her favorite occupation.

“I am grateful to my colleagues and management. Even though I am a new employee, they supported my desire to participate in the competition. Of course, my competitors were very strong, and I did not expect to win. I am extremely pleased, I am overwhelmed with emotions,” says Victoria Tarasova, the winner of the competition.

Last year's winner, Oleksandr Turyk, took second place, while Konstyantyn Zhyvylo came in third. The winners received image gifts from the Youth Organization. According to the contest rules, they will also receive monetary prizes. And Victoria, as the best driver of the affiliate “SS SUNPP“, will take part in industry-level competitions. The professional skills competition of JSC “NNEGC “Energoatom” will be held in mid-October.