Delegation of the National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus paid a visit to Bulgaria

15.10.2004

Press release and discussed other important issues.The delegation was headed by First Deputy Chairman of the Company Alexander Salamakha. Our delegation was also comprised of Deputy General Director of the International Department Alexander Gritsenko and International Policy Coordinator Georgy Denisenko.


Press release


and discussed other important issues.The delegation was headed by First Deputy Chairman of the Company Alexander Salamakha. Our delegation was also comprised of Deputy General Director of the International Department Alexander Gritsenko and International Policy Coordinator Georgy Denisenko.
The visit was arranged under the umbrella of 29th International TV Festival “The Golden Box” in Plovdiv. The BTRC forwarded a feature material ‘March of 1812’ from the ‘Moments of Eternity’ series telling the story of two Belarusian regiments during 1812 and a program about film and TV director Igor Kolovsky ‘The Light of a Faraway Star’ to the festival.
According to Alexander Gritsenko, the highlight of the visit was the signing of the Cooperation Agreement in Plovdiv on October 8, 2004, containing the pre-agreed cooperation arrangements and mutual commitments. The signing ceremony was attended by Belarusian Ambassador to Bulgaria Alexander Petrov. It was preceded by bilateral negotiations of Delegation Head Alexander Salamakha and General Director of the Bulgarian National Television Uliana Prumova who informed the former about the technological level and development prospects of the Bulgarian television.
A number of issues were discussed: exchange of catalogs or experts for the selection of archival materials to be exchanged, preparation of feature reports, news for the exchange of journalists and creative crews, joint TV nights, teleconferences and other programming.
Uliana Primova thanked the BTRC for participating in the festival, encouraged the company’s involvement in the 30th International Film festival in Plovdiv and invited Chairman Vladimir Matveichuk to visit the Bulgarian National Television next year.
As part of the visit to Plovdiv and Sophia, meetings were also arranged with the member of the Committee for Information and Cultural Policy of the Bulgarian Parliament, Professor Stephan Danailov and Deputy Mayor of the Plovdiv Community for Culture and Social Issues Konstantin Piskov. Alexander Salamakha told the other party about the importance attached to international cooperation development in the information field by the President. Belarus has always sought to develop such cooperation with Bulgaria as one of the promising Balkan partners.
In the words of Alexander Gritsenko, during the meetings special attention was paid to the provision of unbiased information about the civil, political, social and economic situation in Belarus, the progress of preparations for the Parliamentary Elections and National Referendum. It was stressed that the authorities do what they can to have democratic and open elections and referendum in compliance with the international standards.
The Bulgarian side expressed willingness to assist in implementing the Cooperation Agreement, especially in light of possible twinning arrangements between Plovdiv and one of the Belarusian towns.
On October 10, 2004, our delegation attended ‘The Golden Box’ and talked to Professor Grozev, Head of the Bulgarian National Cinema Center, Rector of the Academy of Television, Cinema and Internet Communications, Professor Dimitr Dimitrov and Vice President of the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio Valery Ruzin.
It was important that the delegation was able to meet members of the festival jury, which made it possible to tentatively discuss out-of-festival activities for the year (possible invitations to come to Belarus for master classes, creative events, etc.).
It is worth mentioning that the current visit is one of the first serious steps toward implementing the presidential task of building cooperation in the area of information with Slavic and Balkan states. The visit displayed a great potential of promoting the information component of the bilateral cooperation and supported the long-term national interests of Belarus. Solid foundation has been laid for adding a new dynamic to this effort.