December 01 2011 -- President James Michel has met with the Head of Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mr. Sergey Kryukov this afternoon at State House. Mr. Kryukov was accompanied by the Russian Ambassador to the Seychelles, Mikhail Kalinin.

President Michel praised the bilateral relations between the Seychelles and Russia, particularly in view of the recent support of Russia for Seychelles anti-piracy initiatives in international fora.

" We value the friendship that has existed between our two countries for a long time, as we share a common vision for development as well as supporting each other on international issues. We thank Russia for support in the fight against piracy and we look forward to continued support in strengthening the resolve of the international community to bring stability to Somalia and put an end to piracy,"said the President.

Mr. Sergey Kryukov assured President Michel that Russia is ready to assist the Seychelles in various anti-piracy initiatives, and that further talks would take place to identify the type of cooperation that is envisaged.

Mr. Sergey Kryukov described the meeting with the President as very fruitful and said that Russia would continue to develop friendly relations with a special accent on economic ties.

"The state of our bilateral relations is very good, traditionally friendly, and the cooperation is developing dynamically. We have already a very serious investment presence of Russian entrepreneurs in Seychelles, constructing or reconstructing some hotels. I think it will increase Russian tourism to Seychelles, especially that very soon there will be a regular charter plane arriving from Russia, with Russian tourists starting from next January,"said Mr Kryukov.