YEREVAN(Noyan Tapan)–President Robert Kocharian awarded medals and diplomas to the first state laureates for literature and culture on Saturday.
Ruben Altunyan won a prize for the "Hymn to the 1700th Anniversary" in the music category–Ruben Adalyan – for the personal exhibition–which was opened in 2000 at the House of Artists–in the fine arts category. Albert Mkrtchyan–the producer of the feature film "Happy Bus," Rudolf Vatinyan–the producer-cameraman of the film and Anahit Kocharyan–who starred in the film–won in the category of cinematography. Stepan Kyurchkyan–the author of the project of the Yerevan Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral–the architect Yury Dallakyan–Vazgen Poghosyan–the head of the construction project–were awarded in the category of architecture and urban development.
"The ‘Happy Bus’ film received many different awards–each of them interesting and valuable in its own way–but this particular prize is the most valuable," mentioned Mkrtchyan. After being asked whether or not he expected this prize–the producer said that when he films a movie he does not film it with the exception of winning any awards or medals.
Kurchkyan–pointing out that people build when they live in peace–and was optimistic because now Armenia’s are capable of building anything they please thanks to the peaceful and stable state of the nation.
Razmik Davoyan–the Chairman of the State Prizes Awarding Commission–and advisor to the President–assured the audience that the commission worked conscientiously and did its best in deciding who to award the top national prizes. He said that the commission made its decision based on the best works that serve the people and the country over a long time period of time.
President Kocharian mentioned that state prizes are awarded to further encourage the development of culture–literature–and all creativity. The idea of the awarding national awards was for the first time voiced a few years ago by Armenian writers–whereby the government established the "Golden Reed" prize for writers. Later–the range of nominations was widened and six other categories were introduced. However in 2001–theater and literature were not included in the categories for state prizes. According to the President–five million drams were allocated to the Awarding Commission (2.5 million drams are given to laureates in each category).
According to Kocharian–this sum will be used to implement developmental programs within the categories included in the selection of prizes. The President also reported that the work of the Commission will be more efficient as hey gain more experience–international competition will be used as an example–and everything will be done to ensure the fairness and equality of the competition.