President Putin was welcomed at the airport by Valentina Matviyenko and Andrei Chernenko, Acting Presidential Envoy to the North-West Federal District.
Vladimir Putin had a private meeting at the airport with Valentina Matviyenko, who was elected St Petersburg Governor on Sunday. After that, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Yakovlev, who served as St Petersburg Governor in 1996–2003, joined Mr Putin and Ms Matviyenko.
After the meeting, President Putin flew by helicopter to the Neva River where he boarded an excursion ship and celebrated his 51st birthday together with long-time St Petersburg acquaintances, representatives of the municipal and regional administrations and well-known city residents.