Under the patronage of the Russian Federation in Lebanon and the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education, in collaboration with the Walid Jumblatt Foundation for University Studies and the Municipality of Aley, the Russian Universities Exhibition was held under the title "Study in Russia - the beginning of a successful future".

 The exhibition was held at Al Resala EL Ijtimaeya hall in Aley, in the presence of the representative of Minister Hamadi, head of the educational area in Mount Lebanon Dr. Vera Zeitouni, Zhaichikov representative of the Russian Embassy, representative of the Walid Jumblatt Foundation for university studies Dr. Adel El-Morawed, Commissioner of Education in the Progressive Socialist Party Samar Khaled Najm, Deputy Head of the Lebanese-Russian Friendship Association Dr. Riad Najm, and secondary students and representatives of 18 Russian universities participating in the exhibition and a large number of university graduates and Russian Federation institutes.

After the Lebanese national and Russian anthems, Ali Mrowe spoke then Zaychikov gave a speech in which he said: "Today we are at the Russian universities exhibition in Aley. I know that there are many graduates from Russian universities in this region. We chose the State of Lebanon from all the countries of the Middle East. "The Russian government is interested in educating Lebanese students and offering fully paid scholarships that will enable them to have a very high level of education at the best universities in Russia."

He also thanked the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, which sponsors all the activities of the Russian Cultural Center as well as the Walid Jumblatt Institute for University Studies.

"In Russia, there are 1,500 universities, of which about 700 are state universities. Russia offers 15,000 grants a year. We offer Lebanon 100 scholarships a year. Graduates in this region have contributed effectively to the development of infrastructure, including a number of professors in different Lebanese universities,especially at the Lebanese University. "

He concluded: "We hope that there will be Lebanese students, especially from Aley, among the foreign students who study at our universities."

Akl
The representative of Aley mayor, Mona Akl said "The relationship between Russia and the mountain region is a historical and distinctive relationship, and the students who graduated from Russian universities have played a special role in the development of our society,". She wished the representative of minister Hamadi "the need to develop our educational curricula to keep abreast of the technological development that is happening, because there are several university majors that have no place in the local market."

Samir Najm
"I am pleased to speak at this ceremony on behalf of the Walid Jumblatt Institute for University Studies.

The joint sponsorship of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education in Lebanon reflects the deep relationship between Lebanon and Russia in general and between us as a party through our educational institutions with Russia and Russian universities."

Riad Najm
"The Lebanese have long-standing relations with Russia in the field of education," he said, adding that " Russia, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, through the Russian Imperial Assembly, opened 40 free schools in Lebanon and provided education to the Lebanese. Also, the Lebanese writer Mikheal Naima studied at the beginning of the last century in Russia. During the Soviet period  was the first student to enter the Moscow Institute of Medicine in 1956, Dr. Spiro Fakhoury, who received a doctorate in gynecology and has many medical literature.

He concluded: "With the establishment of the University of Friendship among Peoples in the early sixties of the last century joined by a group of Lebanese students as well as other institutes, The Soviet Union and the Russian Federation came out with about 14 thousand Lebanese graduates studied in more than 40 institutes and working graduates of Russia in various fields in Lebanon and abroad and many of them teach in Lebanese universities and outside Lebanon. "

Zeitouni
The representative of minister Marwan Hamadi said "A long history of Lebanese-Russian relations, where University scholarships were a solution for students who did not have the ability to study abroad until the current Russian stage, where there is a great scientific, educational and economic renaissance in the Russian Federation. The organization of this large university exhibition of Russian official universities in Lebanon strengthens this cultural and scientific presence in Russia, strengthens human and economic communication, and opens the door for young Lebanese to university specialization and higher education."