Tiraspol, 22 June. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Today, the mayor of Novosibirsk, Anatoly Lokot, Pridnestrovie's chair of the government, Pavel Prokudin, and the head of the Tiraspol Administartion, Andrey Bezbabchenko, have signed a twinning agreeement.
This was the key event of the Conference of Cities which took place in Novosibirsk as part of the Forum of Peace, Novosibirsk Novosti reports.
The cities plan to cooperate on an equal and mutually beneficial basis in the spheres of economy, education, culture, sports, youth policy and tourism, as well as in other spheres of mutual interest.
Ahead of the International Forum of Peace, Anatoly Lokot emphasised not only the significance and importance of such an agreement, but also its symbolism. «The agreement will be signed on the very day of 22 June. And this is symbolic. The fact is that our countryman, three times Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Pokryshkin, began its tour of duty on 22 June 1941 in Moldavia. He defends the sky of Moldavia and Tiraspol. It is right there where his first fights occurred. This unites and links us.»
Ahead of the forum, Anatoly Lokot held a working meeting with the Pridnestrovian delegation.
«We have great prospects for cooperation with you. We are very interested in the tourist and humanitarian sphere. As for economy, let's think about supplies agricultural production. We have a constant shortage of vegetables and fruit. In the technical sphere we should outline the potential in producing steel as we have fast-growing radio electronics. It is also possible to discuss cooperation in the sphere of light industry, if your products are of appropriate quality. Novosibirsk residents like well-made and beautiful clothes," said the mayor.
Anatoly Lokot admitted that he would be glad to visit Tiraspol — to see the fortress, visit battle places get acquainted with the history of this ancient land.
According to Prokudin, Moldavia's industrial potential is concentrated in Pridnestrovie. Agriculture is also developed in the country. «In the near future we will present our proposals on how we see this participation in your retail chains and sales premises. Your children will be able to come on holiday all year round to recreational camps," said Prokudin.
The sides exchanged flags and presents. Lokot and Prokudin noted that Novosibirsk and Pridnestrovie have similar flags — with green colour and a river in the centre of both of them.
Novosibirsk has 13 more twin cities. They are Minneapolis and St. Paul (USA), Sapporo (Japan), Mianyang (China), Daejeon (Republic of Korea), Varna (Bulgaria), Osh (Kyrgyz Republic), Kharkiv (Ukraine), Minsk (Belarus), Shenyang (China), Sevastopol (Russia), Yerevan (Republic of Armenia) Ulan-Bator (Mongolia).
The official delegation of the PMR comprises the chair of the government, Pavel Prokudin, the head of the Tiraspol State Administration, Andrey Bezbabchenko, Supreme Council members Tatyana Turanskaya and Oleg Khorzhan, the director general of Elektromash, Vladimir Trandasir.
