BREST, 4 August (BelTA) - The Belarusian city of Brest and Russian city of Oryol have established sister-city relations, BelTA learned from the press service of the Brest Oblast Executive Committee.
The sister-city agreement was signed by Mayor of Brest Sergei Lobodinsky and Oryol Mayor Yuri Parakhin during the second meeting of the Belarus-Orel Oblast working group on 4 August. The parties intend to navigate by the principles of trust, placing particular emphasis on establishing conditions for open dialogue, developing partnerships, and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation. The agreement provides for facilitating ties between businesses and organizations in Brest and Oryol, attracting investments, and implementing joint projects.
The cities aim to develop cooperation between educational institutions by organizing exchanges for schoolchildren, university students, and faculty. They will also foster cultural, sports, and tourism ties, and organize joint festivals and tournaments. "Brest and Oryol share the common historical heroic past. This makes educational and cultural institutions the natural starting point for our cooperation. However, the primary focus remains the economic potential of our cities, both of which are experiencing dynamic development," Sergei Lobodinsky stated.
Brest currently maintains sister-city partnerships with over 30 cities across Europe and Asia. This year alone, the city has twinned with Russia’s Omsk, Astrakhan, Vladivostok, and Sertolovo and Kyrgyzstan’s Karakol. "All these cities share complementary strengths and capabilities across various sectors, particularly in industrial production. Having such an extensive network of partner cities will enable us to more actively promote our products under mutually beneficial terms," the mayor of Brest said.
