On May 19 through 21, 2011, the fifth Russian-Finnish Maritime Assembly took place in Kotka (Finland).
On May 19 through 21, 2011, the fifth Russian-Finnish Maritime Assembly took place in Kotka (Finland).
Maritime Assemblies are held by Information and Business Centers of St.Petersburg in the cities of Kotka and Turku, with the support of the local authorities, for the past 5 years (annually – once in Finland, once in St.Petersburg).
This year, the Assembly participants from both sides were the representatives of the administrations of St.Petersburg and Kotka, maritime councils of both cities, directors of naval museums, executives of public maritime organizations, CEOs of companies and organizations related to maritime issues. Welcome speeches at the opening of the Assembly were given by Alexander Sverchkov, Consul General of Russian Federation in Turku; Olli Perheentupa, Consul General of Finland in St.Petersburg; Markku Saastamoinen, Chairman of the City Council of Kotka. The events of the Assembly were also attended by Vitaliy Safronov, leading expert of St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations.
The Assembly program is traditional: the first part is devoted to specific pages of shared maritime history, and the second – to the new developments in the Baltic Sea region and the new joint projects.
This year, the historical part of the program of the Assembly consisted of the report of Alexander Sverchkov “Admiral Oscar von Kremer: a Son of Finland at the Russian Service”, as well as of a presentation by Andrey Lukoshkov, Academic Advisor of Baltic Sea Society, on the results of new underwater research in the Finnish Gulf.
During the seminar “Prospects for Cooperation of South-Eastern Finland and St.Petersburg in the area of Maritime Subjects, Transport, and Logistics”, on 20 May, several projects were discussed that were planned for implementation within the framework of cross-border cooperation in accordance with the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument “South-East Finland – Russia ”(cooperation of naval museums, creation of underwater park at Finnish Gulf, optimizing the traffic between South-Eastern Finland and Russia, etc.). The presentation of the activities concerning the project «Resc Op» (deployment of rescue operations in the Finnish Gulf) was also made for the participants. Finalizing the seminar, Andrei Berezkin, Member of the Maritime Board at St.Petersburg Government, mentioned the topic of joint development of youth sailing in St.Petersburg and South-Eastern Finland.
The next Russian-Finnish Maritime Assembly is planned to be held in Kronstadt in autumn 2011.
News Source: St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations