Press "Enter" to skip to content

Russians Visit Montana With Hopes Of Becoming “Sister Cities”




(Montana Standard)  Visitors from Russia talk with Butte-Silver Bow officials this week in council chambers in the county courthouse.

The Russians are in town to learn about the Mining City’s governmental structure. Nikolay Zlatorunskiy, Andrey Vovk, Mikhail Ivanov, Andrey Khlopyannikov and Sergey Sukhotin were accompanied by the group’s facilitator, Natalia Bayrak. They are part of the Open World delegation sponsored by the Library of Congress.

The program has been around since 1999 and connects Russian professionals with their American counterparts, according to Bayrak. The delegation spent much of Thursday meeting with Butte-Silver Bow officials and learning about the council of commissioners. Commission Chair Cindi Shaw, in foreground, and Commissioners Sheryl Ralph, standing at right, Brendan McDonough, not pictured, John Sorich, seated at left, and John Morgan, standing at left, told the visitors about the way they do business. One visitor, Andrey Vovk, lives in a small mining town in Russia called Shakhty and hopes the two locales can become “sister cities.”

This article first appeared @ The Montana Standard


Error: Contact form not found.