The big celebration of Greek-Russian friendship was organized by the Ministry of Tourism and GNTO in the framework of the Moscow International Tourism Exhibition MITT 2018 and was the inaugural artistic event of the Year of Tourism Greece-Russia.

The Year of Tourism Greece-Russia is an initiative of the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Elena Kountoura, who, in collaboration with the Russian counterpart Mrs. Alla Manilova, proceeded to the restoration of the historical relations of the two peoples through tourism and also the general recovery of the tourist flow from Russia, which had been hit by the Ukrainian crisis and the European embargo on Russia.

Accompanied by a multi-member orchestra and a total of 17 performers, George Dalaras advertised Greek music in the best way possible and excited the audience. It is characteristic that by the end of the concert the audience was dancing in front of the stage and around the square, a rare occurrence for similar concerts in Russia.

Among the guests were hundreds of Russian and Greek tourism agents, executives, directors and owners of travel agencies and companies specialising in tourism to Greece, numerous foreign ambassadors, Russian citizens and expatriates, who are also Greek nationals and the best ambassadors of the country.

Mr. Pavel Ofsyanikov, Russia’s top conductor and head of the Kremlin’s Symphony Orchestra for many years, praised Tourism Minister Mrs. Elena Kountoura for her initiative to introduce Greek music to the Russian public, as the event highlighted. “A top cultural event, a legacy for similar concerts”, he proclaimed.

The reaction of the popular Russian music critic Mr. Vadim Ponomariov through social media was similar; he praised not only the professionalism and the “improvised fountain” of Greek musicians, who turned the audience into a choir, but also described the concert as “the emergence of a great meter, an act of high art”, expressing the hope that new Greek concerts will soon emerge in Russia.