OREANDA-NEWS. February 28, 2012. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, has been awarded Italy’s Order of Merit – Commander Class – at a ceremony at the Italian embassy in Moscow. The award was presented to Yakunin by Antonio Zanardi Landi, Italy’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Russia, reported the press-centre of Russian Railways.

The ambassador noted Yakunin’s great contribution to the development of cultural, economic and political relations between Russia and Italy. He praised Yakunin’s work in the framework of the Year of Russian Culture and the Russian Language in Italy and the Year of Italian Culture and the Italian Language in Russia, in particular, the organisation of the exhibition In Christo, Days of Russian Culture in Merano, support for the N.I. Borodina Russian Centre and the development of relations between the province of Bolzano and Russia.

In accepting the Order, Vladimir Yakunin thanked the ambassador and noted that organising all these projects would have been impossible without the help of colleagues from Italy, in particular Mauro Moretti, the Managing Director of Ferrovie dello Stato (the Italian railway administration).

Vladimir Yakunin asked Mr. Zanardi Landi to convey his gratitude for the award to the president of Italy and added that: "I want to assure you that what we did, we will continue to do to an even greater extent because the task of every citizen is to take part in and promote dialogue between civilisations and a dialogue of cultures."

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Italy’s Order of Merit (in Italian - Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana) – Commander Class – was established in 1951 to reward significant contributions to the nation in literature, art, economics, philanthropy and social and humanitarian activities.