President Truong Tan Sang has conferred the Friendship Order on Nikolay Kolesnik , chairman of the interregional public organisation representing former Soviet Union and Russian experts in Vietnam , in recognition of his contribution to the Vietnam-Russia friendship.

At a ceremony in Moscow on February 16 to present the order, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Pham Xuan Son said the award also aims to express the Vietnamese people’s gratitude to the great and effective support that the Soviet and Russian experts gave Vietnam in its struggle for independence.

Kolesnik thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for such a noble award. This is not only his personal honour, but also an encouragement for all the Soviet and Russian experts who devoted themselves to Vietnam ’s revolution, he added.

He also committed to contribute more to the development of the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia. /.