Within the framework of the Agreement on Cooperation between St.Petersburg and Riga (Latvia), on November 12 through 14, 2009, the Days of St.Petersburg were run in the capital of Latvia.
Within the framework of the Agreement on Cooperation between St.Petersburg and Riga (Latvia), on November 12 through 14, 2009, the Days of St.Petersburg were run in the capital of Latvia.
St.Petersburg delegation, comprising the representatives of government bodies, enterprises, cultural and educational institutions, and city-wide mass-media, was headed by A.Yu. Manilova, Vice-Governor of St.Petersburg.
During the visit, the meetings were held with Nil Ushakov, Chairman of the Riga City Council, A.S. Skachkov, Chargé d’Affaires of Russia in the Republic of Latvia, Leningrad Siege residents, and organizations of Russian compatriots living in Latvia.
On November 12, A.Yu. Manilova, Vice-Governor of St.Petersburg, handed to the compatriots – residents of besieged Leningrad a commemorative medal «In Honor of 65th Anniversary of Leningrad Complete Liberation from the Nazi Blockade» at the Embassy of Russia in Latvia. 22 residents and defenders of the city on the Neva River, who are now living in Latvia, have received the awards, established by the St.Petersburg Government (in total, the St.Petersburg delegation brought with them over 500 medals).
In addition, on November 11 through 12, 2009, within the framework of the Program of the St.Petersburg Government for 2008–2010 intended to implement the state policy of Russia concerning the compatriots abroad, a methodical seminar «Russian Language in Multilingual Europe» was held. After the seminar, a round table was organized on the problems of preserving Russian language and Russian culture in the Russian-speaking diaspora in Latvia, at which the teachers of Russian and Latvian schools made their reports.
In the conference hall of the City Council of Riga, a presentation of St.Petersburg universities was given for directors and the senior pupils of Riga schools; during the visit, the business meeting of representatives of the educational unit of St.Petersburg delegation were held with colleagues from Riga, i.e. the administration of the University of Latvia and Technical University of Riga.
In the evening of November 12, St.Petersburg Academic Lensovieta Theatre performed a play «Frederick, or the Boulevard of Crime» starred with Sergey Migitsko, Larisa Luppian, Anna Kovalchuk, Oleg Levakov, and other famous artists, at the stage of Riga’s theatre «Dailes».
Inhabitabts of Riga were also able to see the staging of a young theater «Hand Made» that works in the exclusive genre of hands manipulations, performance of a jazz band «Billy's Band», and the conspicuous play «Bury Me behind the Wall Skirting» by the eminent theatre «Baltic House».
The issues of business partnerships and cooperation in the humanitarian area were discussed at the conference «St.Petersburg and Riga in Search of New Areas of Cooperation», held in the conference hall of the City Council of Riga on November 13.
On finalizing the plenary session, three parallel working groups were organized to discuss various issues of cooperation between the two cities: «From the Individual Performances to the Permanent Cultural Exchange on a Regular Basis», «Economic Cooperation of St.Petersburg and Riga», «New Times – New Technologies».
As a result of agreements with the Riga side, the nearest plans include the organization of mutual business visits to St.Petersburg and Riga of the official delegations of our cities, as well as exchanges of business and humanitarian missions.
The parties also agreed to continue the tradition of mutual running the Days of our cities. The next Days of Riga in St.Petersburg are scheduled for 2011.
Source: Committee for External Relations of St.Petersburg