Release No. 165
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, NOVEMBER 17TH, 2016 — Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris has pledged to further strengthen the already stable relationship that the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has with the Russian Federation. Prime Minister Harris made this commitment when he met with the Russian Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis today, Thursday, November 17th, 2016.
His Excellency Vladimir Nikolaevich Vinokurov presented his credentials as non-resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to St. Kitts and Nevis during a meeting with His Excellency the Governor-General Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton, G.C.M.G., C.V.O., Q.C., J.P.
Ambassador Vinokurov also met with the Honourable Prime Minister, whotook the opportunity to further discussions concerning a Visa Waiver Agreement with the Russian Federation.
Ms. Thouvia France, Foreign Service Officer with responsibility for the European countries in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Andrew Skerritt, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, attended the meeting.
During the meeting held at Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Harris indicated that he hoped the benefits of the friendship between St. Kitts and Nevis and the Russian Federation would trickle down to ordinary citizens.
The Honourable Prime Minister highlighted specific areas for cooperation, such as scholarships, security, and public infrastructure specifically relating to feasibility studies on the construction of a ‘Unity Bridge’ that would join St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as a road that would link the eastern and western sides of St. Kitts.
In May 2016, Sgt. Erving Bradshaw of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force completed a course in Modern Forms and Methods of Extremism and Terrorism Counteractionat the Krasnodar University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. The Honourable Prime Minister, in thanking the Russian Ambassador, expressed his desire for further scholarships to be afforded to citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as law enforcement training opportunities.
Ambassador Vinokurov has spent 35 years in the diplomatic corps. His Excellency was stationed at the Embassy of the USSR and Russia in Laos from 1982 to 1984 and at the Embassy of Russia in the United States from 1998 to 2002. From 2007 to 2013, Ambassador Vinokurov served as the Consul-General of Russia in San Francisco, USA. Mr. Vinokurov has been an Ambassador-at-Large since 2013.
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