Events

MINSK, 18 December (BelTA) – Russia’s Ufa and Minsk have become sister cities. A relevant memorandum was signed in the Minsk City Hall on 18 December, BelTA has learned.

The official delegation of Ufa is in the Belarusian capital on a visit. During the negotiations, Minsk Mayor Andrei Shorets and the head of the Ufa administration Irek Yalalov agreed to develop all-round cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, sports and other areas, to facilitate the exchange of delegations and artistic companies, to share information and best practices in urban planning, to increase the mutual flow of tourists. These intentions are enshrined in the twinning memorandum.

Irek Yalalov noted that it is not the first visit of a Bashkortostan delegation to Minsk. Ufa and Minsk maintain very strong ties. There is a large Belarusian diaspora in Ufa. “Belarusians are very hardworking people and we are always happy to cooperate. Minsk is one of the leading cities in the CIS with comfortable living conditions and friendly interfaith climate. It took us five years to prepare the agreement for signing. We studied the economic aspects of cooperation and other issues. It is very prestigious for us. In Minsk we see many interesting solutions in the field of urban planning, architecture, housing and utilities. And, of course, we are interested in economic cooperation between Ufa and industrial enterprises based in Minsk,” the Ufa mayor said.

Ufa is a well-developed industrial city, one of the 15 cities of the Russian Federation with a population over 1 million. It is the second largest city in terms of industrial production and is home to a very strong petrochemical industry. The city sees many points of mutual interest with Minsk. For example, there are all preconditions for the cooperation in the construction and transportation industries.

Commenting on the meeting, Minsk Mayor Andrei Shorets said: “Ufa has become the 22nd sister city of Minsk. After the signing of the document we will set up working groups that will identify specific areas of cooperation and suggest the events and activities in Minsk and in Ufa. In short, we hope that we will launch specific projects and that our partners from Ufa will cooperate only with Amkodor but also other companies such as Belkommunmash, Kamvol.”

By the way, the Amkodor equipment has been in service in the Republic of Bashkortostan for many years. “We are absolutely happy with the price-quality ratio of your equipment. Our utility services love it, especially the front loaders that have proved their worth in the harsh climate of the Urals. Therefore, we will continue purchasing your equipment,” the Ufa mayor noted.

The Ufa delegation is set to visit Minsk Arena, the traffic control center and the processing center of Minsktrans, the residential district Novaya Borovaya. “We would like to learn more about the maintenance of Minsk Arena. There are more than five ice arenas in Ufa. It is important that they earn money rather than be a burden on the budget,” Irek Yalalov noted. We are interested in the development of the urban transport infrastructure, electro-buses and other electric transport. We have a proposal for the Belarusian friends. We will announce it once we study everything in detail,” he said.

At the end of the meeting, Andrei Shorets expressed the hope that in the new year the program of the national culture days at the Minsk Town Hall will feature the culture and traditions of the peoples of Bashkortostan.