The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today had a meeting with members of a delegation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

It was concluded at the meeting that the good bilateral relations between the Republic of Macedonia and the Russian Federation and between the parliaments of the two countries, have a positive impact on the overall cooperation.

The Macedonian President said that the Republic of Macedonia attaches particular importance to strengthening and promoting friendly relations with the Russian Federation and expressed satisfaction with the continuous political dialogue and intensified visits and contacts at all levels in the past period.

President Ivanov welcomed the parliamentary cooperation and was informed of the possibilities for its enhancement, as well as of the possibilities for signing new bilateral agreements in order to promote cooperation in a number of areas of common interest.

In this regard, the meeting stressed the need to promote economic cooperation, especially in the field of energy and investment. The Macedonian President welcomed the growing interest of Russian investors in our country and emphasized the importance of the inclusion of the Republic of Macedonia in the "South Stream" pipeline, which will contribute to even greater movement of the economic cooperation between the two countries as well as for the long-term energy stability of the country.

In anticipation of the celebration of the 20th anniversary since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the possibilities for exchange visits of the Macedonian President to the Russian Federation or the Russian President to the Republic of Macedonia. Moreover, President Ivanov reaffirmed the open invitation to the President of the Russian Federation to visit the Republic of Macedonia.

State Duma representatives noted that the Russian Federation is willing to deepen the cooperation with the Republic of Macedonia. At the same time, they expressed interest to increase parliamentary cooperation and agreed that, given the traditionally good relations, the two countries have good perspective and cooperation in all areas.

At the meeting, President Ivanov expressed his satisfaction with the principled position of the Russian Federation in relation to the usage of our constitutional name. In order to strengthen bilateral relations, the interlocutors discussed the possibilities for reciprocal visa facilitation that apply to citizens of the Russian Federation.

State Duma representatives extended invitation to President Ivanov to attend the Winter Olympics in Sochi.