Mr Putin issued a decree awarding the Pushkin Medal to four citizens of Germany for their great contribution to cultural cooperation and friendship between Russia and Germany:
Vladimir Lvovich Voikhonsky – Deputy Chairman of the Friends of St Petersburg Society in Erfurt,
Lyudmila Nikolayevna Kauffmann – Librarian at the Chemnitz City Library,
Nina Fyodorovna Penner, Chairwoman of the International Centre for Russian and German Culture and artistic director of the Rechenka Ensemble in Dresden,
Wolfgang Schelicke – Chairman of the German-Russian Cultural Institute in Dresden.