ROME, July 17. /TASS/. TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman has been granted the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, the Quirinal Palace’s press service said on Monday.

The decree was signed by Italian President Sergio Mattarella. Gusman has received this award for "his outstanding contribution in informing Russians about modern Italian policy, in particular assisting in forming a positive image of Italy and Russian-Italian relations," the press service said.

The senior order of the Italian Republic was introduced in 1951 replacing old royal regalia. The order is awarded for significant contribution to the nation in literature, art, economy, charity, and social and humanitarian activity.

Other recipients of the order are Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, orchestra conductors Mstislav Rostropovich and Valery Gergiev, Director of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg Mikhail Piotrovsky, and President of the World Association of Russian Language Press Vitaly Ignatenko.

The award ceremony will be held in the Italian Embassy in Moscow on September 21, 2017.

Mikhail Gusman has been working for TASS since 1995, and in 1999 he was appointed as the First Deputy Director General of the news agency. Gusman is a distinguished Russian cultural worker and laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in Literature and Art. He was awarded by the Order for Merit to the Fatherland 4th class, orders of Honor and Friendship, a medal "In memory of the 1000th anniversary of Kazan" and also Azerbaijan’s orders of Friendship and Glory.