On September 29 and 30, 2011, the delegation of St.Petersburg participated in II World Regions Forum, which was held in Milan, the capital of the region, by the invitation of R.Formigoni, President of Lombardy. G.S.Poltavchenko, Governor of St.Petersburg, appointed V.N.Kichedzhi, Vice Governor, as the head of the delegation.
On September 29 and 30, 2011, the delegation of St.Petersburg participated in II World Regions Forum, which was held in Milan, the capital of the region, by the invitation of R.Formigoni, President of Lombardy. G.S.Poltavchenko, Governor of St.Petersburg, appointed V.N.Kichedzhi, Vice Governor, as the head of the delegation.
At the Forum, the St.Petersburg delegation took part in dedicated “round tables” concerning the development of exchange programs between the institutions of higher education of the participating regions and the mobility of young scholars, as well as the interaction of the regions in order to prevent and relieve the oncological diseases.
On September 29, V.N.Kichedzhi, Vice Governor of St. Petersburg, and R.Formigoni, President of Lombardy, had a conversation.. The two sides agreed to develop the contacts established during the Forum, and expand the cultural relations between St.Petersburg and Lombardy. V.N.Kichedzhi invited R.Formigoni to visit St.Petersburg and participate in the St.Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2012, with a delegation of business circles of Lombardy.
In addition, on September 29, a traditional charity event “Russian Evening” was held in Milan, within the confines of the program “Year of Language and Culture Russia–Italy” organized by the Foundation for Socio-Cultural initiatives under the patronage of S.V.Medvedeva, the spouse of Russian President, with the support of St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations. The event was attended by V.N.Kichedzhi, Vice-Governor of St.Petersburg, and G.Pisapia, Mayor of Milan. The exhibition “The Phenomenon of Russian Opera”, from the collection of the St.Petersburg Museum of Theatre and Music, was introduced; the guests got acquainted with the work of Leonid Alexeev, St.Petersburg fashion designer and master of men's suit, and watched the performance by the Mariinsky Theatre soloists. By tradition, the program of the evening ended with a charity auction, proceeds from which will be sent to the Orphanage № 53 in St.Petersburg.
On September 30, the delegation of St.Petersburg took part in the final session of the Forum. V.N.Kichedzhi,Vice Governor of St.Petersburg, spoke on the relevance of the directions of the Forum and reiterated the readiness of St.Petersburg continue to work together as a full founding participant of the World Regions Forum. Following the session, the leaders adopted a general statement that included suggestions made during the dedicated “round tables”.