Official delegation of representatives of the Russian Federation visits St. Sava Cathedral

On Friday, April 24, 2009 at 10 A.M. , a delegation from the Russian Federation and representatives of this state in Serbia visited St Sava Cathedral. The delegation consisted of: Georgy Poltavchenko, a representative of the President of the Russian Federation, Aleksandar Petropavlovski, an counselor of the representative of the President of the R.F., Aleksandar Konuzin, an ambassador of the Russian Federation in Serbia, Evgeny Lukin and Oleg Buldakov, counselors of the Embassy, Svetlana Shevchenko, an attaché of the Embassy, Zurab Cereteli, a sculpist, Igor Kozlov, a sculptor assistant and Dmitry Malishev,  a director of NIS company.

Hosts of this delegations were: Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral, head architect of the Cathedral Prof. Dr Vojislav Milovanovich, main architect for interior design of the Cathedral Dragomir Acovich, the head of the Cathedral protopresbyter Dr Luka Novakovic. The meeting was attended also by Mladjan Djordjevic, counselor of the President of the Republic of Serbia Boris Tadic and father Vitaly Tarasjev, head of the Russian Church in Belgrade.

After the visit to the Cathedral at the Presbytery with a main theme: involvement and help of the Russian Church and the State in a completion of the Cathedral on Vrachar.
Polatavchenko conveyed the greeting and suggestion of the president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev that a Russian artist Zurab Cereteli takes part  in the last phase of works in the Cathedral - in a creation of mosaics. A reference for this artist is the work at Christ Savor Cathedral in Moscow where he was the head architect for artistic works in interior.

The representative of the "NIS" company visited for the first time, as a member of the Society for building St Sava Cathedral on Vrachar, this object for which the NIS company has regularly invested by the contracted funds since 2001 (since re-establishment of the Society) for the help of the Cathedral. Director Malishev said that "NIS" will continue helping the Cathedral more than before, as well as that will recommend other Russian companies working in Serbia to give support to the Cathedral.

This visit of the high Russian delegation to St Sava Cathedral has been the fourth by now. Mr. Georgy Poltavchenko, with the president of Serbia Boris Tadic, has officially visited Cathedral on February 17, 2005, February 20, 2006, but on February 25, 2008 this delegation was led by Dmitry Medvedev, the actual president of the Russian Federation with the president of the company NISPROM.

Today's meeting on Vrachar represents a continuation of a traditional dialogue of two nations, eagerness of the ROC to cooperate in final works on the completion of the Cathedral, and a possibility that companies from the Russian Federation become donators of the works on the completion of this Pan-Serbian and Pan-Christian sanctuary.

Source: St Sava Cathedral on Vrachar