ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday

Cultural exchanges in CIS space bring peoples closer

By Galina Gridneva, Valery Zhukov

DUSHANBE

The restoration of the tradition of cultural exchanges in the expanse
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) promotes spiritual
enrichment and rapprochement of peoples, holds Mikhail Shvydkoi, the
chief of the Russian Culture and Cinematography Agency.

Russian culture days that began in Dushanbe on Thursday sum up the
results of the work over the past 12 years to preserve cultural unity
of ex-USSR republics, Shvydkoi told Tass in the Tajik capital on
Thursday.

“Russia has preserved normal working friendly relations with cultural
figures of virtually all Commonwealth countries,” Shvydkoi said. He
sited the examples of Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and a number of
other countries.

“A favourable cultural climate for us has been created in Azerbaijan
and Armenia,” he said. “Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili made a
request to Russian leaders for Russian culture days in Georgia,”
Shvydkoi said. “We plan to hold these days in the second half of the
year”.

Shvydkoi said Russia has retained high quality artistic school. “It
is not accidental that most leaders of culture of ex-USSR countries
had been educated in the best establishments in Moscow and other
Russian cities. We will continue the tradition for training
specialists in our higher educational establishments,” he said. There
are plans for the exchange of creative collectives and art
exhibitions.

Shvydkoi believes Russian pedagogues will be needed in Tajikistan
where a conservatory and a ballet school opened last year. Following
the talks with the leaders of Tajikistan’s Culture Ministry it is
planned to sign the agreement on cultural cooperation up to 2006,
Shvydkoi said.