100 students of the State University of Moldova (USM), the Technical University of Moldova (UTM) and the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM) have received monthly scholarships of 650 lei for the 2010-2011 academic year within Victoriabank's Social Responsibility Program, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the bank's Public Relations Service. The students were given Victoriabank cards to which the scholarships for September and October were transferred. A part of the students will be also offered jobs at Victoriabank. Representatives of the bank, rectors and students said the given partnership is a successful example of social responsibility of a Moldovan bank. “This scholarship is designed to support your aspirations. We promise we will be near you after graduation as well. Our group is the largest beneficiary of the product of the university,” the chairman of the bank's Administration Board Vlad Plahotniuc, who initiated the Scholarship Program, said during the card handover ceremony. According to the president of Victoriabank Natalia Politov-Cangas, this project launched within the Social Responsibility Program aims to promote and stimulate the future specialists in different fields of the national economy. “Victoriabank's Scholarship Program corresponds to the Bologna Process objectives to build an education system of a high quality by encouraging student competition,” said UTM rector Ion Bostan. ASEM rector Grigore Belostecinic welcomed the relationship established between the state and the business. “The success of the business depends on the universities' capacity to prepare professionals and on the businesses' readiness to cooperate,” he said. USM rector Gheorghe Ciocan stressed the professional accomplishments are preceded by academic ones. “This project represents an investment in our education institutions and we hope it will be continued,” he said. “This is a nice and effective gesture as we are given the chance to accomplish our plans and put our ideas into practice,” said Elena Dumitras, a student of ASEM. UTM student Mariana Panainte thanked the bank for its financial contribution. “I'm the only one to benefit from both social scholarship and merit scholarship. I'm very grateful,” she said. The winners of scholarships were selected according to the following criteria: carried out the didactic activities from the education plan; had a minimum general average grade of 9.5 for merit scholarships and of minimum 8 for social scholarships (for orphan students). The decision to grant the scholarships was taken in concert with the UTM, ASEM and USM. The representatives of BC Victoriabank SA said they will consider providing scholarships the next years too.