Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the opening ceremony of the rowing slalom canal, Bogorodskoye, August 17, 2023

Esteemed Mr Khmarin,

Esteemed Mr Papush,

Esteemed Mr Kovalev,

Esteemed Mr Kadyrov,

Today, we are attending a momentous and historical event. We are opening a worldclass canal that meets all international criteria and even exceeds them in some ways, for the first time in our country.

It took us a long time to reach this date. For many years, we had to overcome obstacles that were not related to water rapids but demanded mobilisation of our efforts together with our main sponsor, RusHydro, owing to which (especially in the years when Viktor Khmarin came to head it) we managed to resolve all the problems. RusHydro is a long-time loyal and reliable partner of the Russian Canoe Slalom Federation and, thus, a support for all of Russian sports. 

Today, much attention is paid to this issue. Yesterday, President of Russia Vladimir Putin held a special meeting on expanding efforts to involve more people in sports.

Today, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the RusHydro executives, the designers, engineers and builders for their truly professional efforts to create this wonderful sports centre. The canal meets the highest international standards. I am sure it will host both domestic and international competitions.

The main result is that we have received a great place for training masters and holding competitions here at home. Until now, our leading athletes, national, regional and club teams had to hold training sessions abroad. Now there is no need for this. I think our foreign colleagues will be asking us if they can hold training sessions here, in this great facility.

I am convinced that this canal is a gift not only for athletes and professionals but also for amateurs and all the people in Bogorodskoye who, I am sure, will encourage their children in every way to go into this great water sport. Let the canal become a point of growth, a cultural attraction and promote sports in this picturesque area.