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Sevastopol may become historical settlement of federal importance

For the moment, Russia has more than 40 historical settlements of federal importance

TVER, October 3 /TASS/. Crimea’s federal city of Sevastopol may be added to the Russian list of historical settlements of federal importance, a Russian Culture Ministry official told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

Alexander Rabotkevich, a Russian Culture Ministry official in charge of cultural heritage, is attending the fifth all-Russian conference “The Preservation and Revival of Small Historical Towns and Settlements” that opened in Russia’s Tver region on Thursday.

"The governor of Sevastopol has suggested granting the city the status of a historical settlement of federal importance in compliance with Russian laws. We are waiting for a package of documents from Sevastopol to start considering this matter. I think that Sevastopol deserves this status,” Rabotkevich said.

He explained that the status would, on the one hand, help Sevastopol to regulate its town-planning activities that will be conducted with account taken of the city’s historical buildings and architecture. On the other hand, Sevastopol will be able to attract funds, including from banks, necessary for developing its territory and will stimulate the interest of the tourism sector.

For the moment, Russia has more than 40 historical settlements of federal importance, including the towns of Torzhok, Toropets and Ostashkov in the Tver region.

The conference on preservation and revival of small historical towns and settlements is being attended by historians, architects and experts on preservation of cultural heritage as well as officials from 32 Russian cities and regions: Velikiy Novgorod, Pskov, Krasnoyarsk, Arkhangelsk, Chita, the Altai territory, etc.

The forum is being sponsored by the Russian Culture Ministry and the government of the Tver region as part of the Year of Culture in Russia.