MINSK, 18 January (BelTA) – Boris Batura has been reelected Chairman of the Board of the Belarusian public association “Twin Cities” at a general meeting of the organization, BelTA has learned.
The participants of the meeting reviewed the results of the work in the past two years and elected new members of the board.
Currently, the Belarusian public association “Twin Cities” comprises representatives of 35 cities from six Belarusian regions and also the city of Minsk.
The participants of the meeting said that the pandemic period was not the most fruitful one for the organization, with only one of the two planned meetings held.
The 10th meeting of Belarusian-Russian twin cities was held in Zhodino on 8-9 October. It brought together representatives of 52 cities (21 from Belarus and 31 from Russia). Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko sent his greetings to the participants of the meeting. The meeting was themed around “Twinning as an important potential to strengthen the Union State of Belarus and Russia and the unity of peoples”.
Grodno and Brest are active participants in the Belarusian public association “Twin Cities”. For example, Brest has established twinning relations with 34 cities from 15 countries. The majority of them are Russian cities. More than 60 delegations, most of whom were Russian, participated in the events to mark the Day of National Remembrance of Victims of the Great Patriotic War in Brest.
Novopolotsk has been working actively in this area as well. It has 20 twin cities in different countries, most of them in Russia. Interregional cooperation focuses on the development of economic ties, attracting investors for promising high-tech projects. Despite the pandemic restrictions, Novopolotsk took part in the Week of Friendly Cooperation with the PRC, the city days of Kstovo and Elektrostal, the city youth forum with the participation of delegations of twin cities, online conferences.
Bobruisk has twinning and partnership agreements with 32 cities around the world, including new ones concluded in 2021: with two cities of Russia and the city of Nof HaGalil (Israel). In the pandemic year of 2021, Bobruisk and its twin cities in Russia still held fairs to sell goods produced in Bobruisk. Taking into account the pandemic restrictions, the city actively used videoconferencing as the format of communication with the twin cities.
Zhodino has been advancing international cooperation. Currently, Zhodino has 18 agreements on twinning and cooperation: 6 with Russia, 8 with European cities, 3 – in Asia, 1 – the CIS. Interaction between Zhodino and partners is focused on ties in economy, innovative production, science, culture and education. For example, the city held the international festival "Youth of Belarus and Russia Together in the 21st Century", "Golden Talents of the Commonwealth", computer skills competitions, and business forums with the cities of Russia.
Pinsk has been working to promote twinning relations. As of today it has signed 13 agreements on cooperation and twinning.
Belarus traditionally has the largest number of twin cities in Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Germany, and Ukraine.
