On February 17, 2011, Valentina Matvienko, Governor of St.Petersburg, met in Smolny with the participants of annual meeting of the ministers of Nordic Countries.
On February 17, 2011, Valentina Matvienko, Governor of St.Petersburg, met in Smolny with the participants of annual meeting of the ministers of Nordic Countries.
Nordic Council of Ministers was established in 1971. It is an intergovernmental forum for cooperation among the five Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as three autonomous territories (the Aland Islands, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands). By the motion of Finland that chairs this year in the Council, the first field meeting of ministers in 2011 is held in St.Petersburg.
At the meeting, Valentina Matvienko stressed that the Government of St.Petersburg pays special attention to cooperation with the Nordic countries. “You are our closest neighbors and important economic partners. Our interaction is actively developing in many different areas – environment protection, transport and logistics, innovations and high technologies, power supply industry, social sphere, support for small- and medium-scale businesses, tourism development”, said Governor. However, in the opinion of the Governor, the opportunities of cooperation between St.Petersburg and Nordic countries are far from being exhausted.
Valentina Matvienko emphasized that under the international initiative “Northern Dimension”, a largest environmental project in Europe was implemented in St.Petersburg, that is, the construction of the South-West Sewage Treatment Plant. This allowed for significant decrease of the untreated sewage discharge into the Baltic Sea. Currently, the construction of the main reservoir to the north of the city is being rapidly developed.
The result of another successful project was the launch of high-speed train “Allegro”. Responding on the questions of Eva Bjorling, Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Minister of Trade of Sweden, Governor Valentina Matvienko said that the ferry route between St.Petersburg and Helsinki was opened this year, and informed about the plans now being considered, concerning the the launch of a similar route between St.Petersburg and Stockholm. Valentina Matvienko assured that St.Petersburg was ready for the development and implementation of other joint projects with the Nordic Council of Ministers.
News source: St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations