MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev cited the first results of the ExoMars Russian-European space program, the publication of the six-volume World History and archaeological discoveries in Crimea among the major achievements of the outgoing year.

"Among the most resultative projects I can cite the ExoMars European-Russian project," he said in an interview with TASS. "What is important for Russian science is the fact that there are two our devices, which are already operating. They supply very interesting information, which will soon be published in the most respected international scientific journals."

Another important result of the outgoing year, according to Sergeyev, is the six-volume World History published by the Academy’s Institute of World History. "The Europocentric view on world history is still dominating abroad, with other civilizations being relegated to the background. Our publication offers a balanced view on the contribution of non-European civilizations, for instance, China and India, on the development of humankind," he said.

He also mentioned new archaeological finds made during excavation works at burial sites of the 2nd-4th centuries BC near Sevastopol as major results of the year.

"Historians think that these burials were probably made by nomadic tribes that came to Crimea and changed their nomadic lifestyle to sedentary in contacts with the weakening Kingdom of the Bosphorus. Notably, the government demonstrated a very careful attitude to these finds that were made during the construction of the Tavrida highway: construction works were suspended to give archaeologists enough time to have everything recorded and dig out all valuable artefacts. It is planned to display all the finds at a Khersones museum," he added.