OREANDA-NEWS. September 13, 2007. The ceremony of opening a monument to the legendary Russian cruiser Varyag in Scotland last weekend was an important event in the Russian-British relations of recent years. This first monument to the Russian military honor was erected in Great Britain with the support of TNK-BP.

The Varyag cruiser became a legend on January 27, 1904 when, together with the Koreyets gunboat, is was blocked in the Korean port Chemulpo by a Japanese squadron of 15 ships. After a hot battle, the Russian sailors preferred sinking their ships to surrendering. This was the start of the long and interesting fate of the legendary battleship.

After the famous battle at Chemulpo, Japanese raised and restored the sunken ship. Having received a new name of Soia, it used to sail under the flag of the imperial fleet of Japan until 1916 and was then returned to Russia. Later, the ship was sent for repair to England, which confiscated it for the debts of the tsarist government and sold it in 1920 to Germany as scrap metal. Being towed in the Irish Sea, Varyag went down near the Scottish village of Lendelfoot.

The idea to erect a monument to Varyag in Scotland was put forward by the charitable foundation Cruiser Varyag. The all-Russia movement “In Memory of Cruiser Varyag” started in 2006 and touched off considerable public interest in and outside Russia. TNK-BP became a partner of the Cruiser Varyag foundation for building the monument.

“When the charitable foundation Cruiser Varyag turned to us with a proposal to become their partner, we did not ponder much,” said Vladimir Ruga, Vice President of TNK-BP. “The monument to Varyag is out contribution to conservation of the historical heritage of Russia, patriotic education of the young generation, and tribute to the valor and spirit of the Russian sailors.”

A delegation of TNK-BP comprising the best employees of regional enterprises of TNK-BP took part in the ceremony of monument opening. Apart from participation in this ceremony, the employees of TNK-BP visited the European exhibition of offshore technologies “Offshore Europe-2007” and the stand of BP at this exhibition. A small excursion was organized for the delegation of TNK-BP to Scotland, where they visited Scotch castles and saw Edinburgh, one of the most beautiful cities of the world.