The Head of State, Alexander Lukashenko, has approved the decisions of the council of the special fund of the President of the Republic of Belarus for the support of the talented youth.

As a result, nearly Br 300 million will be transferred to the Ministry of Culture of Belarus for awarding talented youths and creative groups who reported remarkable achievements in arts in 2007.

The list of the laureates and scholarships holders includes dozens of young people and creative groups. Specifically, these are Kristina Alymova, a student of music secondary school No. 1 named after P.I.Chaikovsky; Anastasia Kostenevich, a student of children’s music school No. 2, the town of Bobruisk; a pop orchestra of the Soligorsk children’s arts school; folk-dance ensemble Zolak of the children’s choreographic school under the culture department of the Gomel municipal executive committee.

A grand prix, the title of a laureate and a certificate of the special fund of the President of the Republic of Belarus for the support of the talented youth have been awarded to Andrei Kunets, a soloist at the national music art centre named after V.G. Mulyavin of the state institution Belarusian State Ensemble Pesnyary, the holder of the Grand Prix of the children’s music contest Vitebsk-2007, which took place as part of the 16^th International Festival of Arts Slavonic Bazaar in Vitebsk; Alexei Zhigalkovich, a student of secondary school No. 161 (Minsk), the winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, and to other people.