Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz receives the chairman of the St. Petersburg Foreign Relations Committee, Evgueny Dmitrievich Grigoriev. Photo: Revolution Studios.
Havana, July 16 (RHC)-- Stripped of all formalism, as it happens between friends, was the meeting this Saturday of the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, with the chairman of the St. Petersburg Foreign Relations Committee, Evgueny Dmitrievich Grigoriev, who is visiting Cuba.
A warm welcome at the Palace of the Revolution served as a prelude to the dialogue, which lasted almost an hour, and in which transcended the interest in materializing joint projects in sectors such as tourism, because it allows attracting and engaging other spheres, biotechnology and cultural exchange.
"It is a great pleasure to receive him in Cuba," said the head of government, a few days after completing his first official visit to the Russian Federation, as prime minister, which included an intense program of activities in the city of St. Petersburg.
Marrero Cruz thanked the hospitality of the Russian people and Government during his stay in the Eurasian nation and pondered, above all, the welcome in the former Leningrad, an endearing city that carries with honor the fact of never having surrendered to the fierce Nazi siege in the Great Patriotic War.
Speaking about Evgueny Dmitrievich Grigoriev, the Prime Minister underlined his broad knowledge of the history and culture of his territory and the passion with which he manages to transmit it. His visit, he added, carries many messages, especially the commitment and seriousness of the projects evaluated with the authorities of the Russian city, and of what the prime minister himself named as a sort of road map between St. Petersburg and the largest of the Antilles.
"It is a privilege to have visited Cuba. Words born from the soul have been pronounced here", said Grigoriev, who signified the friendly welcome with "expressions of true affection, far from any formality."
He described as "fruitful and contributing" the work agenda in Havana, which follows up on the agreements between the two countries, "particularly those concerning St. Petersburg, both immediate actions and those with a visible perspective." He also drew attention to projects of mutual interest, promoted at the highest level, and which aim to raise economic and commercial ties to the same level as the excellent political relations.
The Cuban side was represented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz; the acting director general of Bilateral Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Luis Alberto Amorós Núñez, and the Cuban ambassador to Russia, Julio Garmendía Peña. Photo: Estudios Revolución.
Meanwhile, the distinguished visitor was accompanied by Igor Polikarpovich Tkach, high representative of the Moscow City Hall; Viktor Koronelli, ambassador of the Russian Federation in Cuba; Anna Kosenkova, minister counselor of the Embassy, and Nana Mgeladze, consul general of the Eurasian country in Cuba.
