On 25 March I was at the inauguration of the new President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov.

The inauguration was a very dignified ceremony and I was glad to be able to take part. Ex-President Mintimer Shaymiyev was the first to congratulate him on his new position. We all know that the Shaymiyev era was an era of development and prosperity for the Republic. During his 20 years in power he had to live through a lot, but he managed to hold on not only to his job, but also to the affections and respect of his people. And that says it all. The stable and peaceful transfer of power in the Republic is also due to Shaymiyev, who put together a strong team and has handed over leadership of Tatarstan to a man with lots of experience.

The new president is no outsider: he’s worked in the government for over 10 years. Incidentally, it’s largely thanks to Minnikhanov that our country won the right to host the World Summer Universiade Games in 2013. As Tatarstan’s Prime Minster, Minnikhanov put a lot of energy into ensuring that Kazan met the criteria for the Universiade. He personally attended the final presentations in Brussels by the cities bidding for the Universiade. And now Rustam Nurgaliyevich is in charge of building all the sports facilities for the event.

The Universiade will be a rehearsal for the Olympic Games in Sochi and they’ve already done a lot of new building work for it!

On the day of the inauguration I also managed to attend a school rhythmic gymnastics tournament. Actually, I ended up there quite by chance: the Privolzhanka school was holding a tournament called “Nurly Yaz” (“Radiant Spring” in Tatar), which coincided with my visit to the Republic, so of course I couldn’t turn down the kids’ invitation. I enjoyed handing out the awards to the best gymnasts and congratulated them all on their successes and also on the inauguration of their new president, which is a celebration for the whole of Tatarstan.

What a joy it is to watch the young gymnasts, to see how seriously they take it and how hard they try!