On 14 January the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov had a meeting with the People’s Artist of the republic, Honoured Artist of Russia and the Artistic Director of the Salavat Song Theatre Salavat Fatkhutdinov who celebrated his 65th birthday on 10 December.

Speaking at the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov said that during many years of his creative work Salavat Fatkhutdinov made a great contribution into the development of Tatar culture and arts. “You are a real person loved by people, the hero of many generations. Everybody knows and loves your songs,” he emphasized.

In the end of the meeting Rustam Minnikhanov handed in Salavat Fatkhutdinov the Order of Friendship for his outstanding achievements in the art of music and long-time fruitful creative work and the Letter of Appreciation from the Russian President for his active participation in preparation and holding important public events.