According to tradition President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yury Osipov and Director of the State Hermitage Museum Mikhail Piotrovsky announced at a special briefing in the Kremlin that President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev had signed the relevant executive orders.
National Awards of the Russian Federation in Science and Technology is presented to:
Joseph Atabekov — for outstanding results in viral genome studies which created new possibilities for using plant viruses in biotechnology, medicine, and the development of virus-free plants
Dmitry Varshalovich, Alexei Fridman and Anatoly Cherepashchuk – for fundamental discoveries in the physics of galaxies, the intergalactic medium and relativistic objects
Evgeny Kaspersky — for major advances in modern information security systems
National Awards of the Russian Federation in Literature and Art is presented to:
Alexander Kolotursky and Dmitry Liss – for their outstanding contribution to the development of philharmonic activities
Anatoly Prokhorov, Salavat Shaikhinurov, Ilya Popov — for the socio-cultural programme Smeshariki (GoGoRiki) [an animated television series] designed to educate the younger generation
Marina Flit — for her outstanding contribution to the preservation of international cultural heritage and the revival of a unique monument of landscape art, the Pavlosk Palace and Park [country residence of the Russian Imperial family]
National Award of the Russian Federation for Outstanding Achievement in the Humanitarian Field is presented to Valentina Tereshkova.
As per usual the ceremony for presenting the National Awards will take place on June 12, 2009, the Day of Russia.