This honour was bestowed on 32 people.
On Tuesday, 19 December, the Empress Catherine II St. Petersburg Mining University hosted a ceremony of presenting state awards to the university's employees. The ceremony was opened by Rector Vladimir Litvinenko, who said that this year Mining University had put into operation 500 new places in dormitories built from scratch, completely renovated the geological centre in the Crimea and the training base in Solnechnoye. He also assured those present that despite the successes achieved, the management of Russia's first higher technical educational institution is not going to stop and will continue to make every possible effort to move forward.
"Our university, despite its venerable age, and it, as everyone knows, turned 250 this year, continues to progress, it is obvious. We are doing our best to continuously improve the favourable academic environment formed here, of which you are an integral part. Moreover, you are its elite, and the awards that are about to be presented to you are a clear proof of that. I am sure that everyone present in this hall today can be called a locomotive of our society's development. I wish you to retain this status for many years to come," Vladimir Litvinenko addressed the audience.
Alexander Beglov, Governor of the City on the Neva, stressed that it was "a great honour for him to fulfil the instruction of Russian President Vladimir Putin and present the staff of the Empress Catherine II St. Petersburg Mining University with well-deserved state awards". He emphasised that it was this university that was the first in the country to launch a pilot project aimed at improving the higher education system and became an example for others.
"Our country today faces a great challenge - to overcome technological dependence and regain its leading positions in the sphere of innovative development. I have no doubt that your service to our hometown and the country as a whole will make a tangible contribution to its realisation in practice. This is extremely important for strengthening the sovereignty of our state", - said the Governor.
Twenty-two people were awarded medals of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II degree for merits in pedagogical activity and many years of conscientious work. They include, for example, Vyacheslav Brichkin, vice-rector for research training, Alexey Bolshunov and Sergey Ignatyev, who are currently in Antarctica, Alexey Makhovikov, director of the Institute of Basic Engineering Education, established this year as part of the pilot project of higher school modernisation, Svetlana Sinyavina, director of the Mining University publishing house, and others. In addition, four employees were awarded honorary diplomas of Russian President Vladimir Putin (including, for example, Arkady Shabarov, Director of the Scientific Centre for Geomechanics and Mining Problems), and three others were awarded commendations from the first person of the state.
Certificates of awarding the honourable title "Honoured Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation" were presented to Olga Cheremisina, Head of the Department of General and Physical Chemistry, and Yaroslav Shklyarsky, Head of the Department of General and Physical Chemistry, and Yaroslav Shklyarsky, Head of the Department of General Electrical Engineering. Regina Dashko, Professor of the Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, was awarded with the Badge of Honour "For Merit to St. Petersburg" by the Governor's resolution.
At the end of the ceremony, Rector Vladimir Litvinenko presented Alexander Beglov with a gold chervonet, recalling that he had promised to do so if the revenue part of St. Petersburg's budget reached a trillion rubles. As specified by the Governor himself, this figure has already surpassed this level, and by the end of the year should exceed it by 20%.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko personally presented four Mining University employees with the Order of Friendship, and two others - First Vice-Rector Natalia Pashkevich and Vice-Rector for Operation and Development of the Property Complex Anatoly Suslov - with the Order for Merit to the Fatherland, 3rd Class.