President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev upon his arrival in Tashkent. The informal meeting of the heads of state took place at the Khumo Arena Ice Palace, BelTA informs.
The presidents decided to attend the match of Kazakhstan's open hockey championship between the Tashkent-based club Khumo and the Astana-based team Nomad.
Both leaders are known to love this sport. Alexander Lukashenko not only supports the development of hockey in the country, but also takes to the ice himself as a member of his team at the amateur championship of Belarus. And Shavkat Mirziyoyev made a direct contribution to the revival of hockey in Tashkent. Thanks to his support, "Khumo Arena" was built in the capital - the largest Ice Palace in Central Asia and the second after "Minsk-Arena" in the CIS.
This time, the head of the Belarusian state was given a personalized uniform of the team "Khumo" (with the first number) and club paraphernalia. Shavkat Mirziyoyev also received the same gift, but his jersey has the number 24 (perhaps, it is a reference to the President's birthday: the Uzbek leader was born on July 24, 1957).
