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Russian cultural center in Paris to open on October 19 — Kremlin

It hasn’t been decided who'll be representing Russia at the ceremony

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Russian Spiritual and Cultural Center in Paris to open on October as planned, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov told TASS. However, in his words, it is still unknown who will represent the Russian authorities at the opening ceremony.

"We would like the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center on Branly Embankment to start its activities on October 19," the presidential aide said.

He added that there was going to be an exhibition concerning the construction of the Center and an exhibition on the history of the Russian-French relations." Ushakov also stated that the Congress of Russian Press could be held in the Russian Spiritual and Cultural Center.

"The Congress is being held in Paris at one of the UNESCO facilities but some of the events of the Congress will take place in our Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center," Ushakov explained. In his view, "this shows that the Center will conduct various activities from the very opening."

When asked who will represent the Russian authorities at the opening ceremony in Paris, Ushakov said: "I don’t know, it hasn’t been decided yet, but someone will be there." Ushakov said the he was confident that the Center would open in a dignified manner and would work.

"The same goes for the exhibition," the Russian presidential aide said. He pointed out that the exhibition dubbed "Sergey Shchukin. Masterpieces of Modern Art" was organized by the Louis Vuitton Foundation. According to Ushakov, this year marks 80 years since the death of collector and patron of the arts Sergey Shchukin, whose collections are kept in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the Hermitage and the Tretyakov Gallery. "The best paintings from these museums will be displayed at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. It was planned that the presidents of the two countries (Russian and France) will attend the opening ceremony," Ushakov said adding that this exhibition will open on October 20.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was expected to pay a visit to Paris. There he was scheduled to attend the Louis Vuitton Foundation exhibition and visit the Russian Spiritual and Cultural Center. However, the visit was called off as France had turned out to be unprepared for it.