KRASNOYARSK, May 21 (RIA Novosti's Svetlana Belkovich) - The White Nights international charity motor rally has arrived in Krasnoyarsk (Central Siberia). Its participants are British and German aristocrats, legendary racers, foreign journalists and businessmen, including His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent.
The rally, which started on May 2 in Vladivostok and is to finish in St. Petersburg on June 12, has already covered 50% the route.
The Maritime and Khabarovsk territories, the Jewish autonomy, the Amur and Chita regions and the Buryat Republic are behind.
Six British aristocrats, led by a descendant of a prominent British aristocratic family and a member of the House of Lords, Sir Nicholas Fairfax (the owner of a large shipping insurance company and a zealous racer with a 20-year record), decided to combine the captivating voyage across Russia with a charity project.
The Russian branch of the British Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) supported the idea.
The guests attended a chapel and an observation site on the Karaulnaya Hill in Krasnoyarsk. They were surprised to see two German WWII motorcycles ZUNDAPP belonging to a local collector.
After that, the racers went to the city children's hospital, housing the Krasnoyarsk Treatment Teaching Center public organization.
Sir Nicholas Fairfax handed a CAF certificate for $4,700 to center's director Oksana Matveyeva as part of the Smart Toys project.
According to Fairfax, he liked Krasnoyarsk very much. It is a prosperous city, he told journalists.
Vice governor of the Krasnoyarsk territory Sergei Sokol, joining the rally on his own motorcycle, said he was happy that distinguished guests came to his city not only on official visits.
"This lets us hope for the development of our tourist industry. I would like to congratulate our guests on the successful completion of the half of their journey and hope that Krasnoyarsk will leave them bright reminiscences of the rally," he noted.
