On 16^th July 2016 Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić passed a decree on awarding the Second Class Order of Sretenje (Candlemas) to the Institute for the Byzantine studies of the SASA for special merits in the promotion of Byzantine heritage in Serbia and contribution to the Byzantine studies in general. The director of the Institute Ljubomir Maksimović received the Order at the opening ceremony of the 23^rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies in Belgrade.