The leaders of the special project "Nine Treasures", which involved voting for so-called treasures of the republic, is the snow leopard and lake Sut-Khol. The representative of the organizing committee  announced that the majority of  participants in the internet voting voted fro the snow leopard (17% of total votes), and lake Sut-Khol was voted for by the SMS voting, which went on during the period 1-10 December.

The project "Nine Treasures" was started in January of this year, and associated with the Year of Tourism in Republic Tuva. More than 230 entries were submitted by March 15, and the Expert council selected 110 attractions; then 45 were selected for the final voting. These include rivers, mountains, snow leopard, Scythians, more exactly their gold, national holidays, and ancient Slavs also were included, with their history.