MOSCOW, 12 February (BelTA) – Assistant Chairman of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of Russia Valery Loshchinin has been awarded with the Order of Honor. The award ceremony took place in the Business and Cultural Center of the Belarusian embassy in Russia on 11 February, BelTA learnt from the press service of the diplomatic mission.
In line with the Belarus President's decree, Valery Loshchinin has been honored with the award “in recognition of his considerable contribution to strengthening political, economic and humanitarian ties between the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation.”
The Order of Honor was presented by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Igor Petrishenko. He took note of Valery Loshchinin's participation, as the assistant speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, in enhancing the level of inter-parliamentary cooperation. “With your participation a tradition was established to hold forums of the regions of Belarus and Russia under the aegis of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus and the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of Russia. These forums have become milestone events in our interstate relations,” the Ambassador stressed.
Igor Petrishenko also expressed gratitude for support in organizing regular exchanges of visits at the level of the speakers of the upper chambers, the signing of the agreement on cooperation between the Council of the Republic and the Council of the Federation, the restoration of the activity of the bilateral inter-parliamentary commission at the level of the deputy chairpersons of the upper chambers of the parliament.
According to Valery Loshchinin, the high state award of Belarus is an important event in his life. In his words, the Belarusian-Russian cooperation has become a driving force and a backbone for relations in the CIS.
Valery Loshchinin is a Russian diplomat. In 1996-1999 he served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Belarus. The Russian diplomat worked to promote the Belarusian-Russian integration, assisted the increase of mutual trade and the expansion of cooperation with Russian regions. While serving in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Valery Loshchinin was in charge of the Belarusian-Russian bilateral relations, supervised the issues of interstate collaboration in the Union State. Serving as Russia's permanent representative in international organizations in Vienna and Geneva Valery Loshchinin supported Belarus, assisted the enhancement of the cooperation level between the two countries in the international arena.
