DUSHANBE, June 6, Asia-Plus  -- The Russkiy Mir (Russian World) National Foundation has started implementation of project for creating a network of Russian centers that are aimed at preserving and popularizing Russian and language and Russian culture in other countries.  

An official ceremony of opening of the first Russian center of the Russkiy Mir in Tajikistan will be held at Tajik Institute of Foreign Languages in Dushanbe on June 10.

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Kamil Magomedov, the Second Secretary, Russian Embassy in Dushanbe, said that program for creating Russian centers includes providing them with libraries (more than 1,000 items, including encyclopedias, reference books, fictions, textbooks, etc), and collection of multimedia products (movies, audio-books, educational supplies). 

The ceremony is expected to be attended by Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Ramazan Abdulatipov, Russkiy Mir’s Board Executive Director Vyacheslav Nikonov as well as senior representatives of the Tajik Government, chancellors of a number of Tajik universities, and media.

By Russian president’s decree of June 2007 the Russkiy Mir National Foundation was established.  The Foundation is supposed to become a Russian analogue of such well-known institutions as the British Council and the Alliance franchise.  Known Russian political scientist and pubic figure Vyacheslav Nikonov was appointed to head the Foundation.  It was the firs time in the history of Russia that a non-commercial organization has been set up by a presidential decree and co-founded by two ministries at once - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education.