Marking the halfway point between London and Sochi
Around 150 figures from Russian sport and business were guests to mark the halfway point between the London and Sochi Games.
They were hosted at a reception at the British Consulate-General in St Petersburg, where they heard UK Sport and Tourism Minister Hugh Robertson underline Russia’s high level of preparatory work for the Sochi Games:
We have had a lot of contact with the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee, and I’ve met so many of them personally in the last couple of years. I’m extremely impressed by everything I’ve seen in Sochi. As you know, the President hosted the British Prime Minister there recently. And the Prime Minister came back and said, ‘It is fantastic’.
The Minister also commented on Russia’s preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup:
I think the relationships in football, as in other areas, are close already, and will get much closer in the years ahead. And I would like to congratulate Russia on winning the right to host the 2018 World Cup. I have met the organising committee on a number of occasions, and no doubt you are going to lay on a fantastic spectacle.
Earlier the Minister signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko. He said:
The agreement lays down a number of areas in which we intend to cooperate much more closely in the years ahead.