MOSCOW, 8 March 2005 – The Department of Foreign Affairs announced that the Federal Council of the Russian Federation, the upper house of Russia’s bilateral Federal Assembly, will send four senators to attend the 112th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Manila on 3-8 April 2005.

The Department said that Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov confirmed the attendance of the Russian senators during a meeting on Thursday (3 March 2005) with Philippine Ambassador to Russia Ernesto V. Llamas.    “Chairman Mironov said that the Russian delegation to this year’s IPU in Manila will be led by his counterpart in the lower chamber, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov,” Ambassador Llamas said.  According to Ambassador Llamas, the State Duma’s Administration of Inter-parliamentary Relations, which is coordinating the trip for the combined parliamentary delegation, also confirmed the attendance of seven deputies that will represent the State Duma.

“However, Federal Council Chairman Mironov expressed regrets that he himself would not be able to attend the Manila gathering which is expected to draw more than 40 heads and 1,500 members of parliaments from 145 countries, since it was Speaker Gryzlov’s turn to attend this year’s IPU Assembly,” Ambassador Llamas added.

In view of the observance of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Russia next year, Ambassador Llamas said Federation Council Chairman Mironov is considering plans to send a delegation to visit Manila in 2006.

In all, the Russian Federation will send 30 delegates, including staff assistants and consultants. The Federal Assembly which was created with the establishment of the Russian Federation on 1 January 1992, is comprised of the Federation Council, which has 178 members, and the State Duma, which has 450 members, all serving four terms.

“Both the Embassy of the Philippines in Russia and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Philippines are coordinating with both chambers of the Russian parliament and the Organizing Committee in Manila to facilitate all arrangements,” Ambassador Llamas explained.   This will be the first time the Philippines will be hosting the IPU Assembly since its inception in 1889.  END
 

/jay