The alumni of the National Inva-Academy of Arts and Social Rehabilitation presented the head of the Mariinsky Theater symphony orchestra Valery Gergiev with an icon.

The construction of a scientific and cultural center has begun near the excavation at Phanagoria.

Robofest-2011 brought together over 250 school and university teams from over 40 regions of the country – and saw more than 2500 guests attend the event. The young scientists and inventors competed in amateur and professional robotics. The “creativity zone” showcased the team’s engineering projects – which were judged by a professional panel of judges by such criteria as originality, novelty and relevance.

As part of the festivities associated with the 300th anniversary of Lomonosov's birth, Oleg Deripaska's Volnoe Delo Foundation, in partnership with Intel Corporation and Noviy Disc, will provide 5 schools in the Holmogorsk disctrict of the Arkhangelsk Region with 5 portable computer classes, equipped with computers and the latest educational software for working on laboratory problems in science classes.

Before the school year begins, schoolchildren in Krasnoyarsk will receive 3135 computers. This program was started – and is funded – by Oleg Deripaska’s Volnoe Delo Foundation. The “Computers for Students” program has been long active in Krasnoyarsk Krai and is finally making its way to schools in Krasnoyarsk itself.

On Friday, December 10, the ceremony honouring the winners of the Oleg Deripaska scholarship was held at Kuban State University. A total of 37 students majoring in science had taken part in the scholarship contest.

Companies from the Basic Element Group have decided to restore, at their own cost, several villages in the Volga Federal District that were destroyed by wildfires this summer. New houses and public buildings will be built for victims of the fires.