The Russian Ambassador
I went to a dinner tonight with the Russian Ambassador to Australia, Alexander Blokhin.
The photo doesn’t do him justice. He’s a likeable, jovial man, very intelligent and knowledgeable.
He was a deputy in the Russian parliament and was reportedly close to former President Boris Yeltsin. The current President Vladimir Putin appointed him Minister for Federation Affairs in 2000.
Mr Blokhin was the Ambassador to Belarus before being appointed to Canberra.
He is an engineer by background, and aged 57, is a very high ranking diplomat. Australia is honoured that he has been posted here.
Mr Blokhin spoke tonight about the export industry similarities between our countries and the growing bilateral trade, albeit from a low base. He said there is increasing co-operation between resources companies in the two countries.
He made some insightful comments about climate change and energy issues. I won’t repeat them here because they were off the record.
He said that President Putin is visiting Australia for the first time in September. Mr Blokhin’s presence here and President Putin’s visit signal a growing closeness in the relationship between Australia and Russia.
Similar articles
Tags: Australia, Kalgoorlie
Comments
Leave a Reply
Recent comments
- delmer: I downloaded Chrome about 10 minutes ago and am using it now. It seems pretty zippy.
- Emily: I remember learning the meaning of the Greek fish symbol in Greek school. I think it had to do with the the...
- rgeo81: hey there, the other day i was riding my bike to work…i have never in my life been swooped by a...
- Michael: Hello Gerhard, rental accommodation can be difficult to find. If possible, you should travel ahead of your...
- Gerhard: Hello I have the opportunity to be transfer to kalgoorlie from South Africa. Is housing a promlem and do i...
Links
Random posts
Archives
Subscribe
Enter your email address here to receive a weekly email newsletter.Useful stuff
