The delegation was headed by the First Burgomaster (Mayor) of Hamburg Olaf Scholz.
The visit started with a trip to Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery. Honoring the 70-anniversury of the Victory of Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, the members of the delegation paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Siege of Leningrad and laid flowers to the monument of Mother Motherland.
In the evening O. Scholz, the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany in the area of culture in accordance with the Treaty on Franco-German Cooperation, opened the Festival “Arabesques on the Bridge of Alexander III”. The Festival follows the traditions of the Franco-German Festival “Arabesques” in Hamburg and the Festival “Pont Alexandre III” in Paris and is their Russian counterpart.
On September 17, a meeting of the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko and the First Burgomaster (Mayor) of Hamburg Olaf Scholz took place in Smolny. In the course of the conversation the parties agreed that owing to the farsightedness, wisdom and courage of the politicians who headed St. Petersburg and Hamburg in the after-war period, constructive and practical cooperation was enabled between the cities, which in its turn contributed positively to the reestablishment of the relationships between the USSR and Germany. Nowadays the friendly ties between St. Petersburg and Hamburg are facing a similarly challenging and daunting task.
The parties agreed that the following spheres of cooperation development should be considered of highest importance: the area of industrial policy and innovations, port-related activity, housing and utilities infrastructure, development of small and medium-sized business, information technologies, facilitating academic and cultural ties, and the exchange of experience in holding vast sporting events.For St. Petersburg the interest in vast sporting events is especially important in the light of the matches of the Hockey World Championship 2016 and the Football World Cup 2018 to be held in the city. For Hamburg the interest lies in the city’s wish to compete for the right to host the Summer Olympic Games 2024.
A Protocol on cooperation between the Administration of St. Petersburg and the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg was signed following the results of the meeting. Furthermore Georgy Poltavchenko suggested creating a working group with the task of elaborating a plan of further bilateral cooperation and organizing festive events for the coming 60-anniversary of the partnership which will be celebrated in 2017. The First Burgomaster expressed his support of the idea.
As part of the program O. Scholz also visited the Faculty of Journalism of St. Petersburg State University and the Sea Port “Big Port St. Petersburg”, and also attended the annual reception at the Russian representation office of the Port of Hamburg “Hafen Hamburg Marketing e.V.”.
For reference
O. Scholz was reelected for the position of the First Burgomaster of Hamburg in February 2015 in the elections to the city parliament. The Social Democratic Party of Germany headed by O. Scholz enjoyed a confident victory with 45.7% of the votes.
For more information and propositions on cooperation development: 576-62-08, bokova@kvs.gov.spb.ru – Elena Nikolaevna Bokova, Chief Specialist of the Central and Southern Europe, the USA, Canada and Israel Countries Department at the International Cooperation Administration.
Useful links:
Information on the official website of the Administration of St. Petersburg: http://gov.spb.ru/press/governor/72933/
Video clip on the website of Saint-Petersburg TV channel: http://topspb.tv/news/news84668/
Information on the official site of the Senate of Hamburg:: http://www.hamburg.de/pressearchiv-fhh/4602604/2015-09-17-pr-scholz-stpetersburg/