The official ceremony was attended by a delegation of St. Petersburg led by the Head of Administration of Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg Valery Garnets, the Mayor of Alexandroupolis Evangelos Labakis, the Vice Governor of Evros region, Greece's parliament deputies and the leadership of commerce and industry in Evros region.
The official ceremony was attended by a delegation of St. Petersburg led by the Head of Administration of Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg Valery Garnets, the Mayor of Alexandroupolis Evangelos Labakis, the Vice Governor of Evros region, Greece's parliament deputies and the leadership of commerce and industry in Evros region.
Opening of the informational business center was possible due to the close cooperation between Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg and the City of Alexandroupolis in the framework of bilateral cooperation agreement, as well as due to long-standing and fruitful contacts of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg with the public organization of Russian compatriots in Greece, "Russian house".
The opening ceremony followed after the consecration of the center's room, which was carried out by Anthimos, Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis.
The room for the informational business center was provided by the City Hall of Alexandroupolis, which also undertook to pay for its maintenance and operation.
"Opening of the informational business center is an important step in our joint work with the Greek partners. Thus, long-term friendly relations between St. Petersburg and the Hellenic Republic acquire real shape. We hope that the center will become a place of attraction for anyone interested in developing contacts with our city and will contribute to the development of new promising projects", - Valery Garnets said.
The Mayor of Alexandroupolis Mr. E. Labakis emphasized in his speech that the opening of the St. Petersburg Informational business center is an important event for the whole of Greece, which shows how important the inter-regional relations are. HE expressed his confidence that work of this center will serve for the benefit of the residents of both cities.
Opening of the informational business center will contribute to the distribution of information about St. Petersburg and the formation of a positive image of our city, promotion of the competitive advantages of Northern capital of Russia to the foreign markets and development of international and foreign economic relations of St. Petersburg. It is expected that the opening of the center will be able to provide direct support to the growth of tourist flows between St. Petersburg and Greece and to promote cooperation development between our universities.
To enhance tourism, Greek partners were offered to organize a familiarization tour around the region for representatives of tourism companies of St. Petersburg and to ensure the exchange of social advertising. The Greek side declared its determination to increase quality of service and to build the necessary infrastructure to host Russian tourists and above all citizens of St. Petersburg. The parties are convinced that the development of cooperation in the tourism sector will also contribute to the opening of direct flights between St. Petersburg and Alexandroupolis.
Importantly, Evros region, to which Alexandroupolis belongs, is officially released of placing of migrants arriving in Europe on its territory by the decision of the Greek government and therefore entirely focused on the development of tourism.
The delegation of St. Petersburg also handed over their proposals on cooperation in the framework of the existing agreement between the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia and Democritus University of Thrace (Hellenic Republic) to the mayor of Alexandroupolis and public organization of Russian compatriots in Greece "Russian House", which operates Saint Petersburg informational business center. The proposals include: the organization of practices for students from St. Petersburg on the basis of the Greek partner university.
The sides also agreed to organize a trip to St. Petersburg for children of Russian compatriots living in Greece, in the framework of program to support compatriots implemented by the Government of St. Petersburg.
In addition, during the visit to Greece, St. Petersburg delegation visited the monument to Russian soldiers who fought in the Macedonian front during the First World War. It is known that in 1916, at the request of the Allies four special Russian brigades were sent to France and Saloniki front, about 40 thousand soldiers and officers who took part in battle actions in the most difficult areas and displayed exceptional bravery and courage.