On 2 October 2006 an awards ceremony was held in the State Hermitage to present the International Prize for Developing and Strengthening Humanitarian Links among the Countries of the Baltic Region. St Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko was among those present.

For the third time the Hermitage Theatre has served as the venue for the awards. The first winners of this international prize in 2004 were the director of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography Mikhail Shvydkoi, director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky, the celebrated Lithuanian actor Donatas Banionis and world renowned Polish film director Andrzej Wajda.

In 2005 the prizes went to Honorary Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in the Russian Federation Eugeniusz Melcarek, director of the Hamburg Ballet Theatre John Neumeier and the outstanding Russian film director Alexander Sokurov. During this year a new category of the Baltic Star Prize, In Memorium, was awarded to the first mayor of St Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak.

In 2006 the following winners were announced: one of the greatest contemporary composers, Krzysztof Penderecki (Poland), film director Aki Kaurismaki (Finland) and the well-known theatre director Eimuntas Nekrosius (Lithuania). The prize category 'For Support of Culture' (awarded for the first time) went to the president of Russian Railways OJSC Vladimir Yakunin. The In Memorium prize was given to Academician Dmitry Likhachev, an outstanding Russian historian, literary expert and public figure.

In 2006 in addition to the traditional awards ceremony there is the 10-day period from 30 September to 10 October during which the winners of the Baltic Star Prize are being honored in St Petersburg through a number of activities at which the 2004-2006 laureates will be present: press conferences, a round table entitled Crossroads of Cultures, meetings with the artists, concerts, presentation of books and showings of films. One of the main events of these Days was the international conference on Russia and the West: Cultural Interaction in the 21st Century, which took place on 2 October in the Hermitage Theatre.

Aki Kaurismaki

Krzysztof Penderecki

Awards Ceremony of the International Baltic Star Prize to Zinaida Ckurbatova, granddaughter of Academician Dmitry Likhachev

At the Ceremony at the Hermitage Theatre