The ceremony was initiated by Her Excellency President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who was awarded an Honour of Lithuania statue in 2006. The six nominations - Courageous Child of the Year, Self-Sacrifice of the Year, Mission of the Year, Hero of the Year, Hope of the Year, and Duty of the Year - had eighteen nominees whose acts, dedication, and courage have inspired the entire country. Nordea, the sponsor of the project, introduced a special award, Achievement of the Year, which was awarded to 17-year-old scientist Kęstutis Vilčinskas.
When awarding the Honour of Lithuania statue, Inga Skisaker, general manager at Nordea Bank, was delighted that Nordea has had the opportunity to become a sponsor of these exclusive awards.
‘I am happy to be here tonight with the most honourable Lithuanian people, whose noble acts prove that the most important values are eternal. Lithuania does not have either numerous natural resources or exotic animals or high mountains by warm seas, which could make the country famous all over the world. But Lithuania has things that are special: its identity and its people. Our people are talented, ambitious, special, persistent, and hard-working. When we were considering who should receive the award, we thought about ourselves and what our young generation should be like. Last year was particularly successful for Nordea Bank and full of special achievements. We felt inspired. But we do not stop and hope that our greatest achievements are still to come’, Ms Skisaker said.
This is why the special Nordea award Achievement of the Year was given to a very talented young person who already has some significant achievements and continues to pursue his goals. This young man is an example of ambition, persistence, and the endless desire to improve.
This young man from Vilnius, who is under the patronage of the Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation, surprises everyone with his knowledge and skills in informatics, mathematics and the natural sciences. Kęstutis is an award winner at many national and international competitions. Last year, his collection of awards was supplemented with a gold, a silver, and two bronze medals and four first prize diplomas for achievements at various contests and competitions. The most important achievement of the year was the bronze medal received at the International Olympiad in Informatics held in Canada, which was attended by 84 national teams. The academic ambitions of Kęstutis were noticed by several world-famous universities in Holland and Canada, which sent him invitations to become their student.
To encourage the young scientist, Nordea awarded him with a monetary award to finance his studies and further academic achievements.
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