The event  was dedicated to the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Russia and Belarus. Representatives of city administrations and heads of municipal institutions exchanged experiences in the field of education, sports and culture.

Perm is one of the Russian cities that actively develops international cooperation. As an example, cooperation with the Republic of Belarus is becoming more relevant today. Our countries and cities are bound by long-standing friendship and a common glorious history.

– The Day of Unity between the Peoples of Russia and Belarus is a holiday of friendship, mutual understanding and close cooperation between the two fraternal countries. For Perm, this is an important day as our city has  close links with Minsk, - said the head of Perm Eduard Sosnin.

In honor of this holiday, partners and good friends met live - the Soviet District of Minsk (the Republic of Belarus) and Motovilikha District of Perm city (the Russian Federation). The teleconference was held in the Pushkin Library;  representatives of city administrations and heads of municipal institutions exchanged experience in the field of education, sports and culture. Also among the participants were creative groups of both cities and students of secondary schools and art schools.

– We have learnt from our own experience that relations between partner cities, direct links between municipalities and residents of different countries give a lot for the development of cities, as well as make  the citizens feel part of a large Eurasian community.  The international cooperation of the city districts  is a new experience for us, and we hope that it will prove its effectiveness. We hope that this teleconference will be the first of a series of friendship telecasts  - we have many topics of mutual interest,  - said Alexander Molokovskikh, Head of Perm Mayor’s Office.

In addition to live teleconference with representatives of Minsk,  all event participants  were introduced to an exhibition  in the lobby of the library  presenting books by Belorussian authors, as well as works by students of art schools «I see Belarus».

– Mutually beneficial cooperation between the Soviet District of Minsk and the Motovilikha district of Perm contributes to the development of the economic potential of our regions, preserving and strengthening the unity of the cultural and educational space. Our meeting at the teleconference has proved  that we have a lot  in common, especially in the fields of culture and education. I am convinced  that the exchange of experience in this format will be a good starting point for  further development of our friendly partnership, - said Sergey Hilman, the head of the Soviet district of Minsk.

As part of the preparations for the meeting in Perm, a number of events have already been held on the friendship and cooperation of Minsk and Perm. Classroom hours and cooking contests, drawing and applied art competitions, intellectual games and quizzes, concerts and festivals were held. Preceding the date,  the schools and gymnasiums of the Soviet district of Minsk also organized  many interesting, informative and memorable competitions and quizzes. In addition,   a joint chess tournament had been held attended by young people from both cities. And in the near future the delegation of the Perm lyceum «Delta» plans to visit Minsk.

The initiative to develop cooperation between Minsk and Perm appeared in July 2022 after the   the Governor of the Perm Region  Dmitry Makhonin visited Minsk and met  President of  Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. On February 10, 2023, the Perm City Administration held an online  meeting with their Belorussian counterparts. During the meeting, both sides expressed interest in developing contacts in the social sphere and urban management. In October last year, guests from the capital of Belarus - Soviet district of Minsk -  came over to visit Motovilikha district of Perm. Both districts in 2023 marked the 85th anniversary of foundation, so the leaders of the Soviet district of the Belorussian capital proposed the administration of Motovilikha to formalize friendly relations and a memorandum  on  establishing friendly relations  was signed between the administrations of the Motovilikha district (Perm) and the Soviet district (Minsk).