18 september 2010

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets with members of the Mariinsky Theatre’s Board of Trustees during an official visit to St. Petersburg

Participants:

At the beginning of the meeting, Vladimir Putin congratulated the artists and the trustees of the Mariinsky Theatre on its 150th anniversary.

"Thank you for supporting the Mariinsky Theatre. Your attention to it is evidence of its importance all across Europe. The theater features a truly wonderful company with brilliant traditions, and it has continued to develop successfully in recent years under the direction of Valery Gergiev," the prime minister said.

During the meeting, the participants discussed the development of the Mariinsky Theater, the construction of its second stage and the other issues concerning one of Russia's leading theaters.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, Culture Minister Alexander Avdeev, St Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko, Sberbank CEO German Gref, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev, and many famous artists such as Maya Plisetskaya and Denis Matsuev attended the meeting.