Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin could...

Requests by countries to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups had to be submitted to FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) by February 2009 and will be considered in December 2010 in Zurich, Switzerland. Russia submitted its bidding intention in time, proposing 13 cities as venues.

"You, Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin], have along with others received the invitation to take a relevant part in the ceremony. Everyone remembers your work when submitting our 2014 Sochi bid," said First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who heads the bid organizing committee.

Shuvalov added that within FIFA there were hopes that the prime minister would play a major role. Putin did not commit himself, encouraging his deputy not to waste time waiting until state funding guarantees were in place.

"It is better to start now, not to wait until the papers are ready," Putin said, stressing that everything was on schedule.

Putin is a noted sports fan and participant,

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ST PETERSBURG, October 6, (RIA Novosti)...

ST PETERSBURG, October 6, (RIA Novosti) - On Wednesday, in the northern capital, as the city on the Neva is figuratively described in Russia, events will be held to mark three anniversary dates in the life of the famous St Petersburg family of the Roerichs: the 130th birth anniversary of Nicholas Roerich (died in 1947), the 125th birth anniversary of his wife, Helena Roerich (died in 1955), and the 100th birth anniversary of their son Svyatoslav Roerich (died in 1993), reported the press-service of the Russian National Library, or RNB. The opening event will be a book illustration exhibition called "The Empire of the Roerichs" in the RNB, which will feature books written by the Roerichs and reproductions of their paintings. Besides, the library will host the representation of a media programme devoted to the Roerich family. The follow-up event will be the 4th international theoretical and practical conference "Roerich Legacy", which will be held from October 7 to 9 in St Petersburg State University, or SPbGU. The theme of this year"s conference will be "Protection of Cultural Property: St Petersburg Traditions". Its participants will discuss legal initiatives in culture and tell of a study of the cities and towns that were included on the itinerary of Nicholas Roerich"s historical and artistic trip undertaken in 1903-1904. It was stressed at the information department of the SPbGU that the conference is included in a programme of anniversary events of the Ministry of Culture and Mass Media of Russia devoted to the 100th birth anniversary of Svyatoslav Roerich and the 130th birth anniversary of Nicholas Roerich. In addition, within the framework of events devoted to the jubilee of the Roerich family, the traditional Nicholas Roerich international prize will be awarded. The St Petersburg Roerich family made a weighty contribution to the preservation of world culture. A result of the study by Nicholas Roerich of world culture was a pact on the international protection of monuments of culture during military operations, which served as the basis for the adoption in 1954 of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. In 1929, jointly with his other son, Indologist Yury Roerich (1902-60), Nicholas Roerich founded the Himalayan Research Institute in Naggar - Urusvati. Nicholas Roerich"s wife Helena took part in his trans-Himalayan and Central Asian expeditions. In 1924, together with her husband, she settled in India, and developed agni-yoga, or the "living ethics" teaching, based on Indian spiritual tradition. The International Roerich Centre has existed in Moscow since 1991.