President Halonen to visit St. Petersburg and Vilnius

Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
Press Release 23 June 2011

President of the Republic Tarja Halonen will be attending the opening of the phosphorus removal facility at the St. Petersburg Northern Wastewater Treatment Plant on Tuesday 28 June 2011. She will also be having a working lunch with Valentina Matvienko, Governor of St. Petersburg.

The phosphorus removal facility is the last stage in a five-year project to reduce discharges into the Baltic Sea from the three largest wastewater treatment plants in St. Petersburg by a substantial amount.

Meeting of women leaders in Lithuania

From St. Petersburg, President Halonen will travel to Vilnius, participating in an international women’s meeting on Thursday 30 June. The ‘Women Enhancing Democracy’ summit is about increasing the potential for women to participate in democratic decision-making.

The summit was convened by President Halonen and Dalia Grybauskaité, President of Lithuania. Other heads of state and the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, will also be attending.

One of the organisers of the meeting is the Council of Women World Leaders, which has been chaired by President Halonen since 2009. The other organisers include European and American NGOs and research institutions and the US State Department.