On February 4, the Museum of JSC Biochemist (Saransk, Republic of Mordovia) hosted a traditional congratulation ceremony for journalists on the occasion of the Russian Press Day.

In total, more than 50 works in all genres were submitted for participation in the competition, from television reports to articles in print media. The journalists informed readers about the methods of combating the coronavirus epidemic, the development of the direct antiviral drug Areplivir, the results of clinical trials, the industrial scaling of drug production at JSC Biochemik and many other events that made it possible to promptly resolve drug supply issues during the pandemic.

In the "Best TV Story" nomination, two journalists won at once.: Alexey Arecaev, correspondent of the information program service of TV GTRK Mordovia, and Yulia Mamayeva, special correspondent of ANO NTM. The second place in the "Best Newspaper Article" nomination was shared by Irina Zlobina, editor of the politics department of the newspaper Izvestia of Mordovia, and Valentina Zotikova, Rossiyskaya Gazeta's own correspondent in the Republic of Mordovia. The honorary third place was awarded to Svetlana Rodionova, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Mordovia".

Peter Bely, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PROMOMED Group of Companies, thanked the journalists who actively participated in covering COVID-19 and noted that the contribution and support of the media during the spread of coronavirus infection proved invaluable. "Yes, now we have much more information about the insidious disease and ways to combat it. But let's remember the spring and early summer of last year. Lockdown, complete uncertainty, confusion, fear. Under these conditions, information has become one of the most important components of our lives. And it was thanks to you, the journalists, that we were able to navigate, understand what was happening correctly and continue to work on a cure for COVID-19," he said.

According to Dmitry Pushkar, a special guest of the event, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who was at the origin of the development and creation of Areplivir, almost a year ago the medical community was forced to admit: there is no guaranteed cure for coronavirus. "And we had an incredibly difficult job ahead of us to create a new antiviral drug as soon as possible, conduct clinical trials, register and launch large-scale production. "To be honest, I could never have imagined that the support of the media in such a matter as the creation of a new drug, the most important, strategically important, could be so effective. Your work, your reports and published articles, posts on social networks and online resources have provided invaluable support to the Russian medical community. But the main thing is that you were involved in saving hundreds of thousands of lives. I bow low to you," said the academician.

At the end of the award ceremony, Dmitry Zemskov, Executive Director of Biochemist JSC, presented thanks to journalists for covering the topic of the coronavirus pandemic and the activities of the pharmaceutical plant. Commendations were given to Natalia Granovskaya, Director of GTRK Mordovia, Sergey Volkov, General Director and editor-in-chief of the autonomous institution Izvestia of Mordovia, Oleg Kashtanov, director of National Television of Mordovia, Arseniy Babenkov, Deputy director of the Editorial Office of Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Samara), and Olga Nemchinova, correspondent of the Stolitsa S weekly newspaper.