Prime Minister Vladimir Putin congratulated the retired and present employees of Russia's cultural institutions on Cultural Worker's Day. The message reads, in part:
"This profession has always attracted widely educated, gifted and enthusiastic individuals who have a vast creative potential and an active civil position. For these people, their vocation has become their lifework.
"It's very pleasing that you carefully preserve your predecessors' valuable experience and contribute your selfless educational efforts to popularising and augmenting the unique traditions of Russia's multi-ethnic culture, to reinforcing lofty moral ideals in our society, and to inspiring love and respect among the younger generations for our motherland and its rich history.
"I am confident that every individual, and our society as a whole, must possess a meaningful, multifaceted cultural and spiritual life as a prerequisite for Russia's successful and stable development.
"I wish you all the best and the utmost success in your noble endeavour."