The ceremony of bestowing state awards of the Republic of Armenia for year 2015 took place today at the Presidential palace

Guided by the August 22, 2002 Presidential decree NH-1164-N on the Establishment and Bestowal of State Awards of the Republic of Armenia, and taking into consideration suggestions of the Award Commission, President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree to confer state awards of the Republic of Armenia for year 2015 in a number of areas. Today, at the Presidential Palace there took place the Award ceremony.

State awards of the Republic of Armenia for year 2015 have been awarded in the areas of arts and literature, architecture and urban development, hard and natural sciences.

In different spheres of arts and literature such as literature and political journalism, music and cinematography state awards were conferred on Hakop Hakopian (Hakop Movses) for the book of poems The Seventh Chase (in the area of literature and political journalism), on Vartan Adjemian for the Theater of the Sound piece written for the string orchestra, timpani and piano (in the area of music), Vahe Kevorkov (director), Samvel (cameraman), Hayk Badalian (cameraman), Anna Derdzakian (scriptwriter) and Arthur Parsian (editing) for Armenia: From Sea to Sea documentary (in the area of cinematography). In the area of architecture and urban development state awards have been handed to Narek Sarkissian (architect), Paul Chatalbashian (designer) and Stepan Akhoyan (Director of Small White House Ltd.) for the government’s administrative compound on Vazgen Sarkissian Street in Yerevan. In the area of hard and natural sciences state awards were conferred on Ashot Saghian, Anna Mkrtchian and Hayarpi Simonian for the research on the Technology for the Efficient Small-Scale Production of the New Generation of Protein Amino Acids. The chairpersons of the sub-commissions presented the nominated works and conclusions reached by the sub-commissions as a result of their deliberations as well as the works which received awards and their authors.

This year, awards have not been conferred in the areas of visual arts, theater, social and humanitarian sciences. The chairpersons of the corresponding sub-commissions informed that after the secret ballot, the nominations in the mentioned areas for 2015 did not receive the necessary number of the votes.

After the ceremony of handing the state awards, the President of Armenia in his speech congratulated all the winners.

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Congratulatory Remarks by President Serzh Sargsyan at the ceremony of bestowing state awards

Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen;

Today, we bestow state awards of the Republic of Armenia on artists and scientists. I am confident that a new scientific achievement or a new artistic work is duly appreciated later, after it passes the test of time. It doesn’t mean that we have to wait a hundred or two hundred years to appreciate, to evaluate who did what. I am also confident that the contemporaries are responsible for those who create and those who invent. We have the responsibility to state out loud what we accept as a value and what we do not. This is an essential method for the reassertion of the society’s and the state’s system of values.
I see the very meaning of the Republic of Armenia’s state awards first and foremost in that reassertion. We point out, highlight and present to the public things which deserve recognition here and today.

Dear Attendees,

This year we have nomination areas with regard to which I certainly have mixed feelings. On one hand, I am sad that we don’t have awardees in the areas of, for instance, theater, arts, humanitarian and social sciences; on the other hand, I am glad that the relevant sub-commissions have demonstrated strict approach because if we lower the ban, we will simply devaluate our state awards. Hence, I encourage and urge the members and chairpersons of the sub-commissions which didn’t give as nominations this year, to carry on in the same spirit. I am hopeful that in coming years in these areas we will be having really outstanding nominations.

Dear Awardees,

I thank you for your important work and once again I congratulate you on receiving these prestigious awards. I wish you new scientific and artistic achievements for the benefit of our country, our science and culture.
Thank you.