Union State Day at Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk

The Union State Day at Slavianski Bazaar began with a flower-laying ceremony at the Eternal Flame of the memorial complex commemorating soldiers-liberators, resistance fighters and partisans in Vitebsk. The ceremony was attended by State Secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota, Head of the Representative Office of the Union State Standing Committee in Minsk Marianna Schiotkina, Deputy Culture Minister of Russia Nikolai Ovsienko.

The memory of the victims was also honored by representatives of the Union State Parliamentary Assembly, representatives of Vitebsk City administration and public organizations, as well as by military service veterans and veteran workers.

Press conference of Grigory Rapota

At Vitebsk Concert Hall, Grigory Rapota held a large press conference for representatives of the Belarusian, Russian and Union media. He spoke about cultural cooperation and successful projects as part of bilateral relations between Belarus and Russia.

“For us, culture is not just entertainment. It is a big part of interaction between countries and peoples, it is an opportunity to get to know and understand each other. This year, with much regret, we were forced to cancel the events that were planned as part of youth and student organizations’ activity. Perhaps they will be held later, or next year these events will be expanded at the expense of the remaining funds,” said Grigory Rapota.

International airport in Bolbasovo

Moreover, the day before, union parliamentarians visited Bolbasovo in Orsha District of Vitebsk Region, where an international cargo airfield is located. The latter is an important logistics facility for the Union State economy.

Grigory Rapota pointed out the rapid pace of construction of the runway and cargo terminal:

“This fits into our ideas about the development of the Union State infrastructure as we are exploring the idea of ​​building a high-speed highway between St. Petersburg and Hamburg. If this project is destined to come true, then Orsha can become one of the major bases of such a project.

Museum-Estate of Repin "Zdravnevo"

During the festival Slavianski Bazaar, on the Union State Day, Grigory Rapota paid a traditional visit to the Museum-Estate of Ilya Repin “Zdravnevo”. The State Secretary was shown and presented with a unique Belarusian painting technique “malyavanka”.

According to Grigory Rapota, the museum complex is a kind of tourist mecca.

“Every year more and more guests are coming here. We see that the exposition gets replenished with the items that reflect the mode of life and culture of that time, while the estate is becoming cozier,” noted Mr. Rapota.

Concert “The Union State Invites”

The culmination of the Union State Day at Slavianski Bazaar is the concert “Live Cinema Music” with the participation of the Phonograph-Sympho-Jazz Orchestra.

First, there was the official part of the event – presentation of Union State Standing Committee Awards. This year they were given to the Brest Fortress staff headed by Grigory Bysyuk, staff of Maxim Bogdanovich Literary Museum, Director of the Russian Museum of the Great Patriotic War Alexander Shkolnik and conductor Sergey Zhilin, who then directed the gala concert.

The audience could enjoy the performances of popular Belarusian and Russian singers and bands, participants and winners of international competitions and such television projects as “Voice” and “Voice. Children”.

At night, the amphitheater accommodating six thousand people was vibrating with the well-known on the post-Soviet area hits.