St. Petersburg to open Russian language classrooms in Uzbekistan

The Russian city of St. Petersburg will assist in opening special classrooms in Uzbekistan for teaching the Russian language. An agreement on this was reached on September 9 during the official visit of St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov to Uzbekistan.

It was noted that as part of his visit, Beglov discussed cooperation in the humanitarian sphere with Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan.

’’The history of the Tashkent diocese is connected with St. Petersburg. Its first head priest was the Reverend Sophonius, whose years of service were closely tied to our city. Orthodox clergy have left a deep mark on the history of Central Asia. Thanks to the efforts of our clergy and Islamic scholars, good relations have been established between Christians and Muslims,’’ Beglov said.

During the meeting, the parties agreed to establish classrooms in Uzbekistan for teaching the Russian language in cooperation with the diocese. St. Petersburg expressed its readiness to provide educational materials for the initiative. In addition, the city announced its willingness to assist in implementing joint educational projects. In particular, it was proposed to organize summer camps for participants from both St. Petersburg and Uzbek cities to study the fundamentals of Orthodox culture.

On September 9 of this year, a delegation from St. Petersburg began its visit to Uzbekistan. During the trip, Governor Alexander Beglov attended the ceremonial opening of the ’’Leningrad Memorial’’ and signed an updated cooperation plan with Tashkent Mayor Shavkat Umurzoqov, extending until 2028.

It should be noted that in the joint statement issued following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Uzbekistan on May 26–27, the two leaders emphasized Moscow and Tashkent’s intention to expand academic exchanges and cooperation in the study of the Russian language.

It is worth noting that earlier, the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, received the Russian delegation led by Alexander Beglov. During the meeting, the sides discussed further expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between Uzbekistan and Russia, particularly the implementation of economic cooperation projects and cultural-humanitarian exchange programs with the city of St. Petersburg.