On Dec. 10, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin received the Order of Friendship (Russian: Орден Дружбы) from the Russian government for his contribution to the betterment of South Korea-Russia relations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin himself conferred a badge of the Order of Friendship on Chairman Shin at the Kremlin on Dec. 10.
The Order of Friendship is a state decoration of the Russian Federation to honor foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts contributed to boosting political, economic and cultural exchanges with the Russian Federation and its people. It is the highest accolade among Russian decorations awarded to foreign nationals.
The conferment of the prestigious medal on Chairman Shin is a show of Russia’s appreciation for Lotte Group’s investment in Russia and commitment to cultural exchanges between the two nations.
Lotte Group’s ties with Russia date back to 1988 when Lotte Group sponsored Soviet Union’s Olympic squad during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 1990, South Korea established diplomatic relations with Russia; Lotte Group started to consider entering the Russia market.
Lotte Department Store celebrated the opening of its Russian branch in Moscow in 2007; Lotte Hotel Moscow was opened in 2010, thus making Lotte Group the first Korean company to run overseas operations in Russia. Lotte Confectionery also entered the Russia market in 2010 and built a "Choco Pie" plant in Kaluga.
As Lotte Hotel plans to open another branch in the Russian port city of St. Petersburg in 2017 and Lotte Confectionery is pushing for building additional plants, Lotte is projected to emerge as the largest Korean corporate investor in Russia.
On the cultural exchange front, Lotte in 2013 provided a site for a statue of distinguished Russian writer Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin within the Lotte Hotel Seoul complex, located in Sogong-dong. The site provided for the statue was named Pushkin Plaza and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the statue unveiling ceremony.
Chairman Shin Dong-bin has already had several much-coveted medals under his belt: The Order of the White Rose of Finland (2006), Légion d'Honneur Officier of France (2007) and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) (2014).
