President Putin awarded State Prizes-2000 and the President’s Prizes-2000 for achievements in literature and the arts, the Pushkin Prize-2001 for poetry and the Okudzhava Prize-2000. Eminent Russian musician Yury Bashmet, famous writers Vladimir Voinovich and Andrei Volos, Diana Vishneva, a dancer with the Mariinsky Theatre, cellist Natalya Gutman and conductor Alexander Dmitriyev all received prizes.
The Pushkin Prize in poetry was awarded to Alexander Kushner.