President
Ts.Elbegdorj was in St. Petersburg yesterday
and visited the Piskarevsky Memorial Cemetery and the Hermitage. At the museum what absorbed the interest of the President
and his team were items of historical craftsmanship from Mongolia, such as Buddhist
deities sculpted by Zanabazar and presented to Russian Tsars in the 17^th
and 18^th centuries, and even earlier Mongolian artifacts, from the
13^th and 14^th centuries.  

The President also visited the Institute of Far Eastern Manuscript Research of the
Science Academy of the Russian Federation. Some 8,000 manuscripts related to
Mongolia are kept in the institute, which has a Mongolian Studies section. Representatives
of Science Academy of Mongolia accompanying the President held talks with their
Russian counterparts on increased cooperation in research on and display of such
historical items.