MONGOLIAN AMBASSADOR CONTRIBUTES TO RECOLLECTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the Russian Federation Mr Sh.Altangerel and a head of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia Aleksei Orlov have made personal contributions to a fund-raising called "Heritage". The fund purchases and return to Kalmykia the religious artifacts dating back to XVI-XX century. This action started in the middle of the 20th century in Leningrad (current Saint-Petersburg). In the next decade, the collection was broadly enriched and was exhibited in its homeland in 1999. Many people saw their family antiques that had been lost during a re-settlement of the Kalmyk people. The Ambassador Altangerel said the Mongolians know an importance of recollecting the religious artifacts, "our people too have lost many cultural heritages due to external factors". By helping the Kalmyk to find/recollect their artifacts "we can return ours sooner or later, I believe”, he added. Mr Sh.Ilaysov, a permanent representative of the Republic of Kalmykia to the Russian President, said Kalmykia has many years of good-neighbor relations with Mongolia, "these ties will not be limited in politics, economy and culture spheres. The peoples even share same characteristics, traditional values and history as well. These are the fundamentals of our brotherhood". A president of the "Heritage" fund A.N.Severtsev M.D. said the lost artifacts are conserved in the Maimonides State Classical Academy. It is important that high officials are involved in the fund-raising, he noted, "everyone’s commitment is crucial for recollecting the heritage".