The Municipal Merit Award 2016 was handed over to 187 persons, including students who this year achieved remarkable results in the fields of education, culture and sports and labor veterans from different fields. The awards were presented before the Patron Saint Day of Chisinau in a ceremony at the Organ Hall, IPN reports.

Among the awardees are students of the lyceums “Orizont”, “Ion Creanga”, “Principesa Natalia Dadiani”, “Mircea Eliade”, and “Petru Movila”.

Twenty elderly persons also received awards. These include teachers, researchers and veterans of science, culture, education, sport and medicine. Academician Mihai Cimpoi is among them. “In this European dialogue about which we have spoken so much, about the modernizations process, we come with our values that are presented here by different generations. It’s a pleasure for me to see this picture where all the generations are well represented,” stated Mihai Cimpoi.

Deputy head of the Chisinau General Division of Education, Youth and Sport Valentina Cujba said the presentation of Municipal Merit Awards is a tradition that reached the 20th edition. This year the contest involved 400 persons, 187 of whom were selected for being awarded. “It is a special event dedicated to the Patron Saint Day of Chisinau. The children are proud of the fact that they represent the municipality of Chisinau at school Olympiads, sports competition and arts contests and get very important awards,” she stated.

The Municipal Merit Award has been presented since 1996. The value of the award this year is 1,500 lei.