President Igor Dodon on January 16 starts his first official visit abroad, to Russia. While in Moscow, the Head of State will have a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. He will also meet with the chairwoman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sarkisyan and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, IPN reports.

In a message on a social networking site, Igor Dodon says this is the first official visit by a President of Moldova to the Russian Federation in the past nine years. “During the visit, we will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and will meet with students and teachers of MGIMO (Moscow Institute of International Relations) and with compatriots who work in Russia. It was also agreed that I will meet with my good friends – chairman of the Management Committee of Gazaprom Alexey Miller, ex-minister of economy of Russia, chairman of the Executive Board of “Sberbank” Gherman Gref and former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov,” wrote Igor Dodon.

The official delegation to Russia includes: head of the Moldova-Russia interparliamentary friendship group, MP Zinaida Grecheanyi; Governor of Gagauzia Irina Vlah; ex-Prime Minister and ex-Ambassador of Moldova to Russia, the President’s adviser on foreign policy matters, MP Andrei Neguta; ex-minister of reintegration, the President’s adviser on reintegration matters Vasile Sova, and the President’s adviser on political issues and the President’s spokesman Ion Ceban.