Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. Photo: Beta

Vladimir Putin awarded Ivica Dacic, Serbian foreign minister and the leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia, with the Order of Friendship, a state-awarded honour given to foreigners for their contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation with Russia.

Russian news agency Tass reported on January 30 that Aimone Di Savoia, the head of tire producer Pirelli for Russia, Nurlan Onzhanov, assistant to the president of Kazakhstan, and Aaron Frenkel, president of Lloyd’s group, also received the award.

In previous years, Putin has also presented the award to former Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic and film director Emir Kusturica.

The Order of Friendship was established as state award in 1994 by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.