The message reads, in part:
“I view your project as an important and necessary initiative that will make a huge contribution to the study of crucial and momentous periods in the history of our nation, as well as to the preservation of our invaluable cultural heritage. It is symbolic that the institute is being opened in St Petersburg, the city Peter the Great established and was duly proud of.
I am confident that the institute will successfully fulfil its noble mission of education and dissemination of knowledge, and that its diverse operation will enjoy broad public support.”