Opinions & Interviews

VITEBSK, 19 February (BelTA) - Belarus and Russia need to develop a common concept for the conservation of shared historical and cultural heritage. These matters were high on the agenda of a meeting of the commission on social policy, science, culture and humanitarian affairs of the Belarus-Russia Union State Parliamentary Assembly in Vitebsk on 19 February, BelTA has learned.

Commenting on this initiative in an interview with BelTA, Alexander Segodnik, the deputy chairman of the commission, noted that the practice of implementing joint projects was launched in the Union State not so long ago. “Previously the programd basically assumed the joint participation of the Belarusian and Russian sides. Projects may originate from one of the countries, and with the consent of the other party the they are included in the list of projects to be funded from the Union State budget. One of them is the proejct to set up an exhibition hall and to renovate the Ilya Repin Museum-Estate Zdravnevo. The museum near Vitebsk is well visited, enjoys great popularity among both Belarusians and also Russians. Another project is to provide support to the Brest Fortress Hero memorial, a memorial to the Soviet soldiers in Rzhev. The selection requires careful consideration, and if we have a common vision of the projects, the work will become more solid and substantive,” Alexander Segodnik noted.

Among the projects that could be supported by the Union State is the establishment of a museum in the village of Dostoyevo in Brest Oblast, which is considered the Dostoyevsky family seat. The issue is still under consideration. A scientific conference on this topic is scheduled for the spring.

The meeting participants got familiar with the project to upgrade the Ilya Repin Museum-Estate Zdravnevo. The estimated amount of investment is Br2.7 million. Another initiative is to renovate the church of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Minsk (2021 will mark the 800th anniversary of the saint).

With regard to the agreed projects, the Union State budget will allocate RUB97 million to support the Memorial of the Brest Fortress. The overall expenditures are planned at RUB320 million. Work has already begun, the implementation is supervised by the Culture Ministry of the Republic of Belarus.

Belarus’ Deputy Culture Minister Alexander Yatsko informed the meeting participants that there are many movie projects. He noted that Belarusfilm has undergone major renovations and is now a real movies factory. Belarus wants to shoot a film “Mr Nyet” about Andrei Gromyko, the prominent Soviet diplomat, a native of Belarus. There are other joint projects which can be of interest to the Union State. Among them is a project to make the movie “The Partisan” based on Aleksei Dudarev’s novel “The Privates”.

The participants of the meeting got familiar with the experience of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee in developing interregional cultural ties with regions of Russia.

The MPs discussed the Union State development priorities for 2018-2022 in shaping the common cultural and informational space, examined the problems and prospects for the expansion of the Belarusian-Russian cooperation in culture, and considered the plans for the development of social and cultural projects and programs in the Union State