SIMFEROPOL, August 25 /TASS/. Crimea’s reunification with Russia will give an impetus to the peninsula’s development, Prince Dimitry Romanov, the oldest member of the Romanov Imperial Family, said on Tuesday.

"The most important thing is that Crimea can move forward now. It is a point from where it can progress not only in economy but also in tourism and many other spheres," Dimitry Romanov told journalists upon his arrive to Simferopol airport.

"It is hard to explain what I feel now (when I arrived in Crimea). What a pleasure to see all these smiles. You are pleased and I am pleased. I do not care for what the world says," he added.

"We know that it is the long-awaited trip for you, and it is very important for us," Dimitry Polonsky, the vice-premier of the Crimean government, said.

"We are glad to welcome you here. We really hope that your stay will be enjoyable and comfortable," the vice-premier of Crimea said.

During his trip to Crimea, Dimitry Romanov plans to visit places linked to the history of the Romanov House: the Livadia Palace where a monument to Nicholas II was unveiled this summer and the Dulber Palace, which was his family’s summer residence in which he spent his young years. He will walk on the Yalta embankment from where a ship took his relatives away from Russia in April 1919 and visit Sevastopol, the city of Russia’s naval glory.

"I hope to realize my lifelong dream to visit Sevastopol, the city of Russian naval glory," Dimitry Romanov said in a TASS interview. His grand uncle, Great Prince Nikolay Nikolayevich (Great Prince Nikolai Romanov Jr.), the commander-in-chief of the Russian army and Navy, used to be the honorary citizen of Sevastopol in pre-revolutionary Russia.

Members of the Russian Imperial Family will make a short tour of the Black Sea Fleet base.

Prince Dimitry Romanov devoted his whole life to the cause of restoring continuity in Russian history. It was he who accompanied the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his family from Yekaterinburg, the Urals, where they had been executed at the start of Russia’s Civil War (1918-1920), to St. Petersburg.

Dimitry Romanov was born in Antibes, southern France, in May 1926. He spent many years in France, Italy and Egypt and worked at the headquarters of Denmark’s biggest bank.

"Neither me or other members of the Romanov family are claiming anything except for the right to be useful to Russia," the prince said. In the early 1990s, Prince Dimitry Romanov initiated the creation of a charitable fund to help orphanages and hospitals in Russia and preserve Russia’s cultural heritage.

At present, Prince Dimitry Romanov, 89, and his family live in Denmark.