On 28 June 2005 the traditional meeting with journalists Farewell to White Nights - 2005 took place in the State Hermitage.

Together with Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky, journalists visited the icebreaker Krasin. The Krasin is Petersburg's branch of the Museum of the World Ocean, which is headquartered in Kaliningrad. Museum staff spoke about the celebrations being prepared to mark the 750th anniversary of the city of Koenigsberg-Kaliningrad and they conducted a tour of the icebreaker.

Deputy Director of the Hermitage V. Yu. Matveev informed the journalists of plans for Hermitage Days in Kaliningrad - 2006.

The participants were taken on a ride along the Neva and canals aboard a ship of the Aqua-Excursion Line, then returned to the Hermitage.
A.V. Kruglov, Senior Researcher in the Department of the Ancient World and doctor of art history, presented new information regarding the Tauride Venus, a statue dating back to Classical Antiquity which formerly was considered to be a Roman copy of a lost original. Now according to the latest research, the famous statue has been found to be a Greek original dating from the 2nd century B.C.

The Neva Classics Quartet, an artistic partner of the Hermitage Academy of Music, took part in the evening.

After summarizing the results of the past year, Mikhail Piotrovsky handed out letters of appreciation and souvenir presents to the journalists. The culmination of the meeting was the raising of a lantern in the courtyard of Great Hermitage, symbolizing the closing of the White Nights season.

On the icebreaker Krasin

Senior researcher in the Department of the Ancient World A.V. Kruglov presents new information regarding the Tauride Venus, a statue dating back to Classical Antiquity

Presenting a letter of appreciation to correspondent V.I. Ganshin for "Devotion to the Museum."