On 30 July 2021 Uzbekistan celebrated Friendship of Peoples Day. The holiday was established only this year, and on this very day a solemn ceremony was held in Tashkent to present the awards to their recipients. Among those awarded the Dustlik ("Friendship of Peoples") order by decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Sh. M. Mirziyoyev, was the head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan.

The order is awarded to compatriots and foreign citizens for a worthy contribution to strengthening interethnic friendship and harmony in the country; to establishing in society an atmosphere of tolerance, kindness and mutual understanding among representatives of different nations and peoples; for great merit in preserving and developing distinctive national cultures, customs and traditions; for raising mutually beneficial bilateral relations and cultural and humanitarian ties with foreign countries to a new level; for the wide promotion of our state's peaceful and humane policy internationally; and for exemplary work in bringing up the young generation in a spirit of love and devotion to the Motherland and respect for national and universal values, and for active participation in public life.

"I express my great gratitude to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Miromonovich, for his attention and respect toward me as head of the Tashkent Diocese," said the head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan. "This order presented to me is a symbol of the fact that all the Orthodox people of Uzbekistan labor to maintain peace and friendship among peoples and to build peace and harmony in the Republic, so that people of different nationalities and faiths may live in peace. This is our common work.

I also thank all our faithful for this work. I call on us to continue to be builders of peace, goodness, mercy, friendship and harmony among people. Orthodox people must be among those who help build the new Uzbekistan, who stand guard over the preservation of high moral values and the strengthening of the traditions handed down from time immemorial in our Fatherland."

The Friendship of Peoples medal was presented to Metropolitan Vikenty on 29 July at the International Cultural Center.