BUDAPEST, November 29. /TASS/. Hungarian professionals in the arts are ready to expand ties with Russia independently of ministries and state agencies, said Mikhail Shvydkoy, Russian Presidential Envoy for International Cultural Cooperation, on a working visit to Budapest.

"Speaking about the general feeling from the visit, it is clear that we now have people among Hungarian cultural figures who are interested in expanding contacts with Russia. They do not forget that Hungary is a member of the EU, and what restrictions and limitations there are. However, it is clear that the cultural sphere can be a platform on which Russian-Hungarian ties can develop even apart from ministries and agencies. It is clear that today this is possible, and our colleagues are ready to make this happen," Shvydkoy told Russian journalists.

He said he had met with Opera Theater director Szilveszter Okovacs, ballet company director Tamas Solymosi, Palace of Arts director Csaba Kael, acting rector of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music Gyula Fekete, director of the Operetta Theater Attila Kiss B., as well as the management of the Hungarian Art Academy and the capital's circus.