Petrozavodsk State University has developed educational programs for foreign students from 55 countries

On December 9, Artur Parfenchikov spoke about this at an online meeting under the MFA of Russia.

Today, a videoconference meeting of the Council of the Heads of the Subjects of the Russian Federation was held under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Headed by the Minister Sergei Lavrov, the online meeting participants discussed the prospects for international youth cooperation.

In Karelia, as the head of the region Artur Parfenchikov emphasized, the key role in development of such cooperation is played by the main university of the republic - Petrozavodsk State University. Today PetrSU maintains relations with 96 foreign universities and institutes, as well as with the research centers and international organizations from 30 countries of Central and Northern Europe, Asia and the CIS.

“For a quarter of a century, the educational programs and courses for foreign citizens are being developed and improved. During the past two years, 646 foreign students from 55 countries have been studying at the university in various programs,” said Artur Parfenchikov.

Petrozavodsk University annually participates in implementation of more than twenty international projects, most of which are aimed at developing cross-border cooperation with Finland and interaction with the countries of the Barents region.

Volunteer programs are another tool for international youth cooperation. In Karelia, the program “Russian Language Ambassadors in the World”, which is designed to popularize the Russian language and culture in Russia and abroad, is being implemented.

Thanks to the International Agency “Slovo” established on the basis of PetrSU, a linguistic volunteer movement is actively developing in the republic. Within its framework, the educational expeditions to the countries of Northern Europe, the CIS and the Finno-Ugric world are carried out. The employees of the partner universities international services regularly do internships for studying the Russian language at Petrozavodsk University.

As the Head of the republic added, young people from other countries participate in sports events that take place in Karelia. The annual International Student Go Festival “DolGO budet Karelia snitsa!” is an illustrative example of such activity.

“Creation of the preferences for the Arctic zone, which are now adopted in the Russian Federation, will help to attract young businessmen from Russia, Finland and other northern countries to such territories,” said the Head of Karelia.

This year, due to the current epidemiological situation and the imposed restrictions, the joint events with foreign colleagues have moved mainly to the online format. Nevertheless, implementation of international youth projects continues in Karelia and their participants try to make full use of modern technological possibilities.