11th July 2018: On Monday, July 2nd the EHF President, Marijke Fleuren and Director General, Angus Kirkland travelled to Saint Petersberg to meet with representatives of the Russian Hockey Federation. They were met at the airport by Elena Galinovskaia the Advisor the Russian Hockey Federation President Nikolay Alexandrov.
On the way to the hotel, Elena showed them some of the wonderful sites that Saint Petersberg has to offer. The next morning, they visited the main Hockey pitch in Saint Petersberg. A tour was provided by Elena and Vice President Georgy Galashev – It is a state of the art facility equipped with broadcast quality cameras, permanent big screen, warm-up area and spectator seating. The facility clearly presents a new opportunity to grow the game in Saint Petersberg.
In the afternoon they visited a World Cup Game as guests of the President Alexandrov where they met officials from the city including the Head of International Relations and City Government Mr Eugenie Grigoriev
The next morning Marijke and Angus attended a Press Conference hosted by TACC the largest and oldest news agency in Saint Petersberg. The Panel included the Vice Chairman of Saint Petersberg Sorts Committee, Mr Perelman Alexandre, President Alexndrov, Marijke and Angus and as chaired by the Vice President of the TACC.
President Alexandrov outlined his plans to grow the game not only in Saint Petersberg but across Russia and his ambitions for the National Teams. He highlighted that there are 16 regions playing across Russia which is a significant growth. Marijke spoke of the need to develop from the ground up as well as focusing on high performance.
Before heading to the airport Marijke and Angus were treated to a canal trip around the city and lunch.