Lieutenant Commander Gunn,

Ladies and gentlemen, Distinguished guests,

It is a real honour and, indeed, a great pleasure to welcome all of you here this evening.

It also falls to me to have the honourable task of presenting a highly esteemed Russian State Decoration – the Pushkin Medal - to a long-standing promoter of bilateral relations between Scotland and Russia, namely Lieutenant Commander Dairmid Gunn.

This is undoubtedly a timely recognition of his personal efforts in developing ties in a whole multitude of ways between our nations and in fostering people-to-people contacts as well as spreading knowledge about Russia, its culture and its language.

It is also deeply symbolic that a day after tomorrow on the 6^th of June we will celebrate the 220^th birthday of our greatest poet Alexander Pushkin who’s name was immortalized in so many ways and given to this prestigious Award.

Before recalling some highlights from Diarmid’s professional career, I would like to draw attention to some of  his personal merits. As we all know, Diarmid is extremely generous with his time, wisdom and resources. He is always searching for ways to help others.  Diarmid embraces life by valuing all people and treating everyone with respect and politeness. He is a well-spoken and focused listener, a master of conversational competence, leaving others feeling inspired, engaged and understood.

Diarmid Gunn has a track record to be proud of. He graduated from the Royal Naval College Greenwich in 1955 and then in 1960 from the School of Slavonic Studies at the University of London. He went on to serve as a career officer in the Royal Navy for 24 years and passed in the Civil Service Commissioners’ examinations as an interpreter in Russian. From 1973 until retirement he had a job as the director of a Scottish organization working at both national and European levels for the benefit of Scottish farmers.

At the same time, he developed a great affinity with Russia, having been involved in developing cultural and humanitarian ties between Russia and Britain for the last 38 years.

From 1980 till 1995 he was Chairman of the Scottish Branch of the Great Britain - USSR Association, and subsequently its successor, the Britain-Russia Centre, and was a council member of both bodies.

In association with the Moscow House of Friendship he succeeded in organizing and participating in 7 cultural visits to the USSR and Russia between 1985 and 1992 and helped to arrange welcoming receptions for Russian visitors coming here.

It is important to note that all the above work was done on a purely voluntary and unpaid basis.

I also note that Russia is not the first country to have given an award to Lieutenant Commander Gunn. In 1989 he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his notable achievements.

I too would like to thank you, Diarmid, for your fruitful work, for your commitment and dedication to that work and for your contribution to the strengthening of friendship and cooperation between our peoples and bringing our national cultures closer together through mutual enrichment.   

Diarmid, it is always with such energy and enthusiasm that you tackle projects of common interest to our two countries, and these stretch over such a variety of valuable fields.

And, of course, Diarmid, you are a very good friend of mine, and I will always treasure our friendship with all my heart.

For your personal contribution to the rapprochement and enrichment of relations between our countries and for your efforts in promoting Russian language and culture, for the example you set and, indeed, for your remarkable career on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation and the Russian people I, the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Scotland, now have the honour and privilege to present you with  one of Russia's highest distinctions – the Pushkin Medal.

I would like to congratulate you wholeheartedly and wish you the very best of luck in all your future endeavours.