Orthodox Church of Antioch awards Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Centre of National Glory of Russia and of the St. Andrew Foundation Vladimir Yakunin

On 6 June 2010, the Representation of the Orthodox Church of Antioch in Moscow held a ceremony of awarding Vladimir Yakunin, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Centre of national Glory of Russia and of the St. Andrew the-First-Called Foundation, the president of the “Russian Railways” Company. The Order of Ss. Peter and Paul, a high award of the Orthodox Church of Antioch, was conferred on Mr. Yakunin by Archbishop Nifon of Philippopolis, representative of the Patriarch of the Great Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and Al Russia.

Attending the ceremony were Russia’s deputy foreign minister and special presidential envoy to the Middle East A. Saltanov, president of the Centre of National Glory of Russia S. Scheblygin, minister of state of Lebanon A. Kassar, deputy chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations archpriest Nikolai Balashov, and ambassadors of twenty-nine countries accredited in Moscow.

It was noted in the official document of His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius of Antioch that Vladimir Yakunin was awarded “for his work to the good of the Orthodox Church.”

Archbishop Nifon underscored the unity of Holy Orthodoxy, saying that the work to the good of the Russian Church are common property and common joy of all Orthodox Christians, this being testified by the award from the Patriarch of Antioch.