Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on awarding the Order of Alexander Nevsky to the Soviet and Uzbek diplomat, ex-USSR ambassador to Sri Lanka Rafik Nishanov. The document was published on the official portal of legal information on January 17.
“To award Rafik Nishanovich Nishanov with the Order of Alexander Nevsky for great services to the state and many years of conscientious work,” follows from the decree.
Rafik Nishanov from 1970 to 1978 was the USSR Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Under Nishanov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began his diplomatic career in Sri Lanka as an assistant to the ambassador.
Earlier, on December 28, 2020, Putin awarded the Russian ambassadors to Syria, Turkey and Uzbekistan. In particular, the Special Representative for the Development of Relations with Syria, Russian Ambassador Alexander Efimov was awarded the Order of Honor.