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The President presented Hero of Labour medals to Sergei Antonov, head of the fishing equipment and tackle gear department of Yuzhmorrybflot; Olga Bochkareva, hump yard operator at Inskaya railway station; Nikolai Zharkov, adviser to General Director of Krasnoye Sormovo plant; Vasily Lanovoy, actor at Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre; and Iskhak Mashbashev, writer, chairman of the Board of the Union of Writers of Adygea.

The title of the Hero of Labour of Russia was established in March 2013 and is awarded for outstanding achievements in public, social and economic activity; for contribution to the country’s socioeconomic development, including industrial production, agriculture, transport, construction, science, culture, education, healthcare and other areas.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends,

I am very glad to meet you all on the eve of the holiday, May 1, and to present to you the Hero of Labour gold medals.

The word ‘hero’ speaks volumes. Heroes are courageous, steadfast and outstanding people, outstanding personalities, hard workers in the highest sense of the word. Responsible, worthy citizens of their country. All of you have these wonderful qualities, you faithfully serve Russia and the cause you have devoted your life to.

From ancient times, our ancestors valued such people, treated them with respect, and glorified honest, creative work. These traditions, these foundations are in our national mentality. The entire glorious history of Russia is filled with the achievements of her sons and daughters – hardworking, persevering, resolute, and tireless people. Our contemporaries are carrying on this glorious chronicle – people like you. And today we are honouring the heroes who have made bright, wonderful accomplishments.

Sergei Antonov’s career is linked with the development of commercial fishing in the Primorye Territory. He knows all aspects of this sphere down to the smallest detail, as well as highly complicated fishing technologies. Mr Antonov takes his job very seriously and spends a lot of time and effort boosting the competitiveness of the national fisheries sector and its efficiency as well as training a reliable personnel reserve. His fruitful work in the interests of the Far East and the whole of Russia sets a worthy example for young people.

This wonderful team includes Olga Bochkareva, a charming woman and a real leader. She has been organising shipments and controlling traffic at Inskaya sorting station of the West Siberian Railway. This difficult job has many intricacies. Ms Bochkareva has mastered them completely, she does her duty in an impeccable manner, pays attention to introducing innovative methods, and she is a wonderful specialist and mentor.

Substantial technical achievements and notable pages in the national industry’s history are linked with the legendary Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Honorary shipbuilder Nikolai Zharkov headed it for many years. He joined the shipyard at a very young age and worked his way through the ranks from budding specialist to general director and won tremendous prestige and authority with his co-workers and the entire shipbuilding sector. Projects the aim of which is to strengthen Russia’s combat potential and to create the national icebreaker fleet have been implemented under his supervision. Largely owing to Mr Zharkov, the shipyard continues to develop today, building multirole ships of various classes.

The high ideals of patriotism, devotion to duty and the Fatherland distinguish the work of Vasily Lanovoy. He himself and the pictures created by his talent are truly inseparable. They will continue to exist for all times and throughout all eras. The whole country knows and loves Mr Lanovoy for his vivid roles in the best domestic films and plays performed at the Vakhtangov Theatre. He is respected for his civic attitude and position of principle, for public and charity work. Now during the preparations for the great occasion, Victory Day, I would like to make a special mention of Mr Lanovoy’s enormous contribution to the protection of historical truth and the memory of the immortal exploit of our people. He devotes his entire self to this extremely important work and he is doing it sincerely, with an open heart.

Events of the Great Patriotic War are described in the literary works of Adyghe writer and poet Iskhak Mashbashev. His wonderful lyric poetry and works celebrating the glory of the North Caucasus can be heard both in Russian and other languages and his translations of Russian literature into such a rare language as Adyghe are impressive and a real treat for us. I must say that, regrettably, in the past few years, this work has not been carried out on such a large scale as in the Soviet times. We are losing a lot in this respect and all this should be restored. So we are grateful to you for your efforts in this sphere. This contribution to the mutual enrichment of cultures and augmentation of the distinctive legacy of multi-ethnic Russia deserves respect and gratitude.

Friends, the pride and dignity of a country lie in its citizens, their heroic deeds and labour achievements. You have made outstanding achievements in developing production, transport, strengthening the defence capability and defence potential of this country, and implementing important public initiatives as well as creative undertakings.

I would like to congratulate you once again on being awarded the great title of Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation. I would like to thank you for everything that you have done and, I am sure, you will still do for your home country, for our people. I wish you every success, and of course, good health.

On the forthcoming occasion of Victory Day, I would like to wish you all the very best. Thank you.

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Vladimir Putin: Friends,

Once again I would like to congratulate the award recipients. In their acceptance remarks all of them talked about their work in one way or another, which is natural and quite predictable. They have worked all their lives; they are working now and will continue to work. And each of them said they are willing to do even more, in fact, they mean it.

We are very grateful to you. Thank you for your work, for the results of your work and, most importantly, for your attitude to work in the name of the Fatherland. This is so important. This attitude is no less important than the results of your work.

Thank you. Happy holiday.