Tatarstan President meets with Governor of the Cycladic Islands of Greece

On March 17, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov met with a delegation of the Cycladic Islands of Greece headed by Governor Georgios Pusseos.

Welcoming members of the delegation, Tatarstan President noted the importance of their visit due to establishing a specific department for tourism in the framework of the Tatarstan Government. “We know that your country has great experience in the hospitality field and we would like to study it,” Rustam Minnikhanov added.

Rustam Minnikhanov continued that the regional leadership was doing a lot of work to increase the touristic attractiveness of Tatarstan, restoring the historic towns of Bolgar and Sziyazhsk. “The historic sites attract tourists and we hope that the tourist flow will increase,” Rustam Minnikhanov said.

Also, Tatarstan President noted that the resorts of Greece were popular among citizens of the republic.

Rustam Minnikhanov stresssed the need to facilitate trade and economic relations between Tatarstan and Greece. In 2013, the volume of the turnover made 180 million USD dollars. And mainly, it is the export of goods from Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov added.

“I hope that your visit will favour the development of Russian-Greek relations,” Rustam Minnikhanov said addressing the delegates.

Governor of the Cycladic Islands of Greece Georgios Pusseos, in his turn, noted a high level of economic development of Tatarstan and confirmed that the Greek region was willing to cooperate with the republic in a number of areas, such as tourism, education exchange and economic cooperation.

“We both have the potential that will be interesting for our regions. You are looking for partners and we should respond to it. Greece is a very interesting country and we would like to cooperate with you,” Rustam Minnikhanov concluded.

Tatarstan President asked to arrange a visit of Tatarstan delegation to Greece, noting that specific agreements on cooperation between two regions could be concluded during the visit.

Today, members of the delegation will hold meetings with ministries and sign a cooperation agreement with Tatarstan Agency for Tourism.

Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin, Vice Premier – Tatarstan Minsiter of Industry and Trade Ravil Zaripov, Chief of Tatarstan Agency for Tourism Sergey Ivanov took part in the meeting at Tatarstan Government House.