On June 8-9, Riga hosted the twentieth Regional Forum of heads of the National Olympic Committees of CIS, Baltic States and Georgia. It was attended by 14 States, including the delegation of the ROC headed by Stanislav Pozdnyakov.
The forum was organized by the NOC of Latvia with the support of the IOC Olympic Solidarity. The program included an exchange of views on a wide range of issues, discussion of joint educational, scientific and methodological, cultural and other programs and projects in the field of sports.
The heads of the national Olympic committees of the CIS, Baltic States and Georgia warmly congratulated Stanislav Pozdnyakov on his election as President of the Russian Olympic Committee, and the Forum itself was traditionally held in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding.
One of its results was the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the ROC and the NOC of Turkmenistan. The document was signed by the Head of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov and Secretary General of the NOC of Turkmenistan Azad Muradov.
Stanislav Pozdnyakov:
– The fact that the Forum is being held for the 20th time shows its importance and practical benefits for all participants of the Olympic movement of the post-Soviet countries. This is a good platform for sharing knowledge and skills, for discussing joint projects. Our countries share a common history, geographical neighborhood and Russian language, which facilitates communication. We need to use these advantages for effective cooperation in all areas. The forum program included many interesting presentations on such topics as education, science, sports infrastructure. Here we can and should interact more actively with our colleagues from the national Olympic committees of the CIS, Baltic States and Georgia.
Long-term curator of the Forum, Deputy Secretary General, Head of the ROC Organizational Department Yuri Yuriev:
– During that short period when our countries gained independence, the Olympic organizations got stronger and gained the deserved authority in the international Olympic movement. We have not run away, but continue to meet every year to exchange experience, the latest news about the development of the Olympic movement in our countries, to learn about the achievements of the host NOC and, of course, to develop and strengthen our cooperation on an informal basis.
Previously, we organized forums on our own. But since 2005, our initiative has been supported by the IOC Olympic Solidarity, which provides financial assistance to the project.
On behalf of all the participants of the forum I would like to take this opportunity to express sincere gratitude to the leadership of the Olympic Solidarity and personally to Pere Miro for the attention they pay to our NOCs. This suggests that the IOC supports cooperation between national Olympic committees at the regional level.
And, of course, I would like to thank the NOC of Latvia for the excellent organization of the forum and a warm welcome.
