BREST, 29 July (BelTA) - About 30 delegations came to Brest to help the city celebrate its 1003rd birthday on July 29 and 30, BelTA has learned.
Brest is hosting delegations from Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Germany, Russia's Samara, Kovrov, Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Izhevsk, Petrozavodsk, Ryazan, Astrakhan and Malgobek, as well as representatives of diplomatic missions.
"Despite the fact that some cities have sent notices that they suspend or break cooperation with us, we have not removed their coats of arms from the wall of sister cities. We have no doubt that the opinion of those who sent these papers does not coincide with the opinion of residents who sincerely love Brest. We make new friends, sign agreements on cooperation, which are then filled with economic and cultural content. This speaks to the effectiveness of the twinning format," Brest Mayor Aleksandr Rogachuk said.
For example, Brest and Kaliningrad have been twinned for more than a decade. "In addition to tourism, we promote ties between industries. A lot of Belarusian goods sell in Kaliningrad. The difficulties we are going through only make us stronger. The logistics in Kaliningrad Oblast is mainly based on ferries now. I'm sure it's temporary and everything will get better," said Kaliningrad Mayor Evgeny Lyubivy. During the visit to Brest, the Russian delegation discussed new areas for cooperation.
Slovakian Vranov nad Toplou is also Brest's longtime partner. "We are very happy about this friendship. When there is a holiday in Brest, we rejoice together with Brest residents. Most of our cooperation is in education and culture. I think our friendship will continue," said Milan Tkac, Vice Mayor of Vranov nad Toplou.
Today Brest got a new twin city. During the reception an agreement on cooperation was signed with Russian Samara.
Aleksandr Rogachuk briefed the guests about the development of Brest. “Brest's economy has recovered from the shocks that we encountered in February and March. Judging by the H1 statistics, we see that the vast majority of companies are back to their feet, have already found new markets, logistics channels. The task is to reach last year's level of industrial production. Some enterprises have launched import substitution projects," the mayor said.
