Governor Sergey Katanandov, Governor of the Republic of Karelia, visits Vermont
Jul 02, 2004

Vermont Karelia Sister State Committee
Burlington, Vermont



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2004

NOTICE OF PRESS CONFERENCE
FRIDAY, JULY 2, 2004 AT 10:30 A.M.
BURLINGTON COMMUNITY BOATHOUSE
BURLINGTON, VERMONT

Burlington, VT - Governor Sergey Katanandov, Governor of the Republic of Karelia, the sister state of Vermont in the Russian Federation, will visit Vermont on June 30, July 1st and 2nd
2004. During his visit he will meet and discuss the sister state relationship and activities with Governor James Douglas and Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie. He will meet with Vermont economic development and environment officials to discuss economic development opportunities between the partner states and appropriate environmental controls for lakeshore and timber development. He will also meet with officials of the City of Burlington, including Mayor Peter Clavelle, to discuss lakeshore development.

The main city of Karelia, Petrozavodsk, is on the shores of Lake Onega, the second largest lake in Europe. Karelia also includes within its borders much of Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe. Karelia contains part of the largest untimbered forest in the world. Karelia is located just east of Finland and 400 kilometers north of the Russian city of Saint Petersburg.

Governor Katanandov served as Mayor of Petrozavodsk from 1994 to 1998, when he was elected to his first term as Governor of Karelia. He is currently in his second term. Governor Katanandov is a native of Petrozavodsk and graduated from Petrozavodsk State University in 1977 with a degree in civil engineering. Before becoming Mayor, he was employed as a chief engineer on major construction projects and served in the Karelian Legislature. He is a member of the United Russia party, the party of President Vladimir Putin. He has worked closely with President Putin on a number of national initiatives and is often mentioned as a candidate for national cabinet level jobs should he end his political career in Karelia.

Governor Katanandov is beginning his visit to the United States with a trade mission in New York City where he will be accompanied by executives of industries in Karelia, particularly of timber and wood product companies. He will be accompanied to Vermont by two other officials from Karelia, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Bazegsky and Karelia Commercial Court Chief Judge Alexander Petrovsky. Chief Judge Petrovsky is one of the founders of the Vermont/Karelia Rule of Law Project and has been to Vermont numerous times in connection with the development of the Karelian legal system. Governor Katanandov has visited Vermont once before when he was Mayor of Petrozavodsk.
-more-
Although the sister state relationship has been in existence since 1990 when the Vermont Legislature first declared it based on an agreement between Governor Madeleine Kunin and the head of the Karelian Legislature, and although there have been many sister state activities, this is the first visit of a head of government of Karelia to Vermont. Thus, this is an opportunity to agree on new activities. As Governor Douglas stated in his welcoming letter to Governor Katanandov: “I look forward to discussing with you how the [sister state] activities can continue and be enriched in future years. I hope through this meeting that we can renew our sister state relationship and decide on new activities that we can launch this year and next.”

In addition to a busy schedule of business meetings, Governor Katanandov will attend a reception at the Institute of Sustainable Communities in Montpelier on July 1st at 4 PM. Leaders of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, along with business leaders, have been invited to the reception.

On Friday July 2nd at 10:30 AM at the community boathouse in Burlington, Governor Katanandov will hold a press conference to discuss the results of his visit and take questions from the press. All members of the press are invited to attend.

For further information, please contact Mark Oettinger, Chair of the Vermont Karelia Sister State Committee at (802) 864-5756 or Kathleen Stankevich, Program Coordinator, Russian American Rule of Law Consortium at (802) 885-7207.