The grand opening of the Odessa State Academic Opera & Ballet Theatre, which had been under reconstruction for a long time, took place on September 22 in Odessa. As the theatre is considered to be the national architectural monument the President of Ukraine Victor Yuschenko visited the ceremony.

  After the ceremony the great gala concert took place. A lot of stars of the national & world opera such as famous Ukrainian tenor Volodymyr Hryshko, the soloists of the National Opera & Ballet House Susanna Chakhoyan and Maria Stefyuk participated in the concert. All of them were cordially received by Londonskaya hotel.

  Right after the concert an official buffet was organized in Londonskaya restaurant where the officials of the city and region were present together with William Taylor, the ambassador of the USA in Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, the ambassador of Russia in Ukraine, famous Odessa citizen Mikhail Zhvanetsky and some consuls of the foreign countries in Odessa.