One of the points of the program was also a ceremonial dinner on behalf of the Government of St. Petersburg with the participation of the Chairman of the Committee for Youth Policy and Social Organizations Interaction R.Y. Abdulina, the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg I.O. Lonsky, the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Education Y.V. Solyanikov, as well as the Consul General of the Slovak Republic Mr. Augustine Csiszár. During the meeting, the contest winners and their mothers were presented with the gifts on behalf of the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko.
The winners of the competition were Natalia Balunova, a pupil of 7B class from Benkov school (Nitra) and Clara Girmanova, a pupil of 7A class from Stanichna school (Kosice).
According to the Consul General of the Slovak Republic in St. Petersburg Mr. Augustine Csiszár, thus they decided "to renew the Soviet tradition: at that time the literary contest of Russian poetry and prose in Slovakia involved hundreds of participants. The first such experience in the new time happened 3 years ago in the town of Lučenec and immediately attracted a lot of attention". In 2014, more than 400 spectators came for the first contest to listen to young Slovaks who read poems by Russian classic authors. The following year, the competition was joined by the city of Nitra, Košice and Žilina, while the number of visitors has exceeded a few thousand.
According to Mr. Augustine Csiszár, young readers from all over Slovakia who won the contest always wanted to go to St. Petersburg.
The cultural program was organized for the winners and their accompanying in the Northern capital of Russia, it aimed to explore the history and culture of Russia, a country which language they choose for studying as a foreign. Thus, the Slovak schoolgirls visited the brightest and most historically significant places in St. Petersburg and its suburbs: The Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve and the State Museum Pavlovsk, Peter and Paul Fortress, the State Hermitage Museum, The State Museum St Isaac’s Cathedral and Kazan Cathedral and Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.
Schoolgirls from Slovakia also visited Piskaryovsky Memorial, where they laid flowers to the Monument of Motherland and read the poems about peace.
One of the points of the program was also a ceremonial dinner on behalf of the Government of St. Petersburg with the participation of the Chairman of the Committee for Youth Policy and Social Organizations Interaction R.Y. Abdulina, the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg I.O. Lonsky, the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Education Y.V. Solyanikov, as well as the Consul General of the Slovak Republic Mr. Augustine Csiszár. During the meeting, the contest winners and their mothers were presented with the gifts on behalf of the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko.
At the end of the program (19 March) schoolgirls from Slovakia attended the benefit performance of the legendary clown, People's Artist of the USSR Oleg Popov in Ciniselli Circus on Fontanka.
Part of the costs to ensure the supply of food (dinner), transport services, organizational support and part of the cultural program was paid at the expense of St. Petersburg budget.
The organizer of the readers' competition is the Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in St. Petersburg.
A visit to St. Petersburg was organized with the support of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg.
More details: +7 (812) 576-75-29, borisova@kvs.gov.spb.ru – Marianna Olegovna Borisova, a specialist of the Division for Planning of International Events of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg.
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Video in news piece of the TV channel "St. Petersburg" http://topspb.tv/news/news99846/