Mayor Zoran Janković today visited the Mayor of Moscow Mr Jurij Lužkov.

He is accompanied in the delegation by Deputy Mayors Prof. Janez Koželj and Aleš Čerin, the President of the City of Ljubljana's Commission for International Relations Roman Jakič, the Director and Artistic Head of Festival Ljubljana Darko Brlek, the Head of the City's Office for Public Relations Tjaša Ficko and protocol official Klement Čepon. They were also joined by senior representatives of Ljubljana's economic scene, the President of the Board of Petrol, d.d. Marko Križanowsky and the CEO of Riko, d.o.o. Janez Škrabec.

 

After arriving in Moscow the Mayor and his delegation yesterday attended a reception at the Slovenian Embassy in Moscow, organised on Independence Day and for the Mayor of Ljubljana's visit by the Slovenian Embassy's Deputy Charge d'Affaires Oto Pungartnik.

 

Prior to today's meeting with the Mayor of Moscow, the City of Ljubljana delegation also met the leadership of Moscow's Department for the Support and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises.

 

In their discussions, the Mayors of Moscow and Ljubljana showcased the most important projects and activities in their cities as well as plans for the future. They agreed that relations between Ljubljana and Moscow are high-quality, and will be strengthened in the future, above all via co-operation and the exchange of experiences in the fields of transport, communal infrastructure, accommodation policies, social policies and culture.  The Mayors agreed that in this time of crisis, the role of cities is especially important in the fields of stimulating and carrying out investment as well as in preventing unemployment and price rises in communal services.

 

The Mayor of Ljubljana expressed his respects to Mr Lužkov and said “I am proud of the friendship between Moscow and Ljubljana. In interpersonal relations Moscow and Russia are, for me, a part of Europe, which is a reflection of intercultural dialogue. From the start of my mandate I wanted to meet the legendary Mayor of Moscow, a colleague of Mr Lužkov, whose vision and developmental policies over sixteen years led to great success in the development of the city. Moscow has exceptional beauty”.

 

At the end of the meeting it was agreed that Mayor Lužkov is to visit Ljubljana in 2009, at which time the Slovenian capital will also host the Bolshoi Theatre.

 

 

Office for Public Relations