The preliminary agreement about this was reached during the visit of the delegation of the Belgrade University to the City on the Neva.
On Thursday, September 2, a working meeting between the rectors of St. Petersburg Mining University Vladimir Litvinenko and Belgrade University Ivanka Popovic took place. The parties discussed the prospects of cooperation in such areas as academic mobility, the creation of joint research teams, increasing the publication activity, unification of educational programs, and several other matters. However, the most lively discussion was caused by the proposal of the Russian side to create an Institute for the Study of Russian language and science on the basis of one of the faculties of the Serbian university.
“Today about 90% of Serbs know practically nothing about Russia and in many respects shape their idea of it based on Western, not always objective agenda,” Vladimir Litvinenko addressed his colleagues. “But a unipolar bias is often harmful, it is always those powers that pursue a multi-vector policy that achieve the greatest success. This is why I think that creating a multifunctional center where your students and anyone else who wants to get acquainted with current Russian realities, our mineral resources base, the companies that extract, transport, and process minerals, and the state of our labor market is a very urgent task. Naturally, students of the Russian language and literature department should be engaged there, which, thanks to this initiative, will get a powerful impetus for expansion. That is, on the one hand, the Center will become an integral part of Belgrade University, uniting under its wing the classrooms where the scheduled lectures will take place. And, on the other hand, it will be an open platform for anyone who wants to learn more about Russia.”
The rector noted that the project has already been approved by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Russian side is ready to finance it in full. Investments will be allocated to maintain a staff of 3-5 permanent employees, reconstruction of the premises with an area of up to 400 square meters, equipping them with furniture, computers, and software that allows establishing Internet communication with our country.
“No one will help us raise our economies but ourselves. But for this process to proceed more intensively, it is necessary to consolidate efforts. I believe that the implementation of this project will enable Belgrade University to take a dominant position in Southeast Europe,” Litvinenko stressed.
Ivanka Popovic said that “this idea is very much in line” with the aspirations of the Serbs themselves. That is why “the probability that it will be put into practice is very high.” At the same time, for the final decision, the representatives of the Balkan higher school need to coordinate the proposal with the city authorities and the Government.
"We do need to bring the work in the field of popularization of knowledge about Russia to a new level. Especially since we have a rich shared history. For example, many of the professors who taught at our university in the twentieth century came from Russia, where they fled after the October Revolution. All technical faculties, where there were especially many natives of your country, are located in the center of Belgrade, so it would be logical to concentrate a group of classrooms united by this idea there," Ivanka Popovic suggested.
She also said that within a 10-minute walk from the intended location of the Center for Russian language and science studies is the grave of one of the most distinguished alumni of the Mining Institute, commander-in-chief of the Russian Army in Crimea during the Civil War, Baron Pyotr Vrangel. An exhibit about his life and military merits, according to both sides, could also be part of the project.
Let us recall that St. Petersburg Mining University signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation with Belgrade University in January 2019. The signing of this document, as well as the agreement with the Petroleum Industry of Serbia company (NIS), took place during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Balkan Peninsula.
