In 2022, in honor of the founder of the Mendeleev Olympiad, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valery Vasilyevich Lunin — who ensured the MMO gained international recognition — the MSU Faculty of Chemistry and the Melnichenko Foundation established a prize in his name. The first award went to Ignatiy Tarabrin (Moscow).
In 2023, the prize was awarded to Russian Andrey Dubinsky from the Republican Lyceum for Gifted Children (Republic of Mordovia).
In 2024, it was decided to award multiple levels of the prize. Chinese participants Wang Yunkai and Zhao Zeyu took first and second place respectively, while Russian Mikhail Perelman won third. The prize amounts were 1 million, 500 thousand, and 350 thousand rubles respectively.
In 2025, a Chinese schoolboy Zhao Yaoxi claimed absolute first place and the first-degree Lunin Prize. Second-degree prizes went to Russian Vladimir Elistratov from the Center for Pedagogical Excellence School (Moscow), while third place went to Chinese student Wan Xuantong.