YEREVAN, February 3. / ARKA /. VTB Bank (Armenia) said today it has awarded a participant of a literary contest "Prose 2013," without waiting for the official jury to announce the winners.

The Russian-owned bank is a partner of the contest. The participant it chose is Levon Shakhnur, who submitted a short-story called "Bright Point.” As an award he will get an exclusive edition of "Evgeny Onegin" poem by famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.

The official winners were awarded today at a ceremony organized by Antares publisher’s and Granish literary club. The contest is announced to identify new talents in modern Armenian literature and popularize their works.

The special awards went to Mary Mkrtchyan for her short-story called ‘Shperung’ and Henri Grigoryan for his short-story called "Siesta."

The grand prizes went to Narine Kroyan for her short-story "Moth-Proofing," Arpi Voskanyan for her short-story "May the alive be buried by the alive" and Hambardzum Hambartsumian for his short0-story "The Ghost of Hamlet's Father.”

VTB Bank (Armenia) is owned fully by Russian VTB Group. It runs 67 branches in Armenia, more than any other local bank. -0-