President of Germany to pas official visit to Russia

German President Johannes Rau will start an official four-day visit toRussia today by invitation from Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The Germanofficial will arrive together with his wife. On September 3, Rau will holdnegotiations with Russian officials and takepart in the so-called Potsdammeetings between cultural figures of Russia and Germany. On September 4,the German President will deliver a speech in the Moscow State Institute ofInternational Relations and lay a wreath to the Pushkin monument. Rau isalso scheduled to meet with representatives of the Russian and Germanbusiness communities and Russian public organizations. In the evening onthe same day Rau will leave Moscow for Novgorod..