Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, was
awarded the Order of Friendship "for the substantial contribution into the development
and consolidation of friendship and cooperation between the Russian Federation
and Ukraine."
Sergei Mironov, Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, conferred the Order on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev at the 36th plenary meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member-States in Saint-Petersburg.
V.Lytvyn expressed his gratitude for the order, and stated that "it confirms the role of the parliaments in the development and strengthening of cooperation in the post-Soviet space."
He believes that parliaments will properly represent the CIS IPA in the global community, "as the modern democracy is the people´s democracy, whereas people´s democracy is the parliament."