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Heads of Russian-language media from 63 countries start work at Russian press congress

Discussions are expected to focus on the development of a common Russian-language media space and cooperation of the journalist community for an unbiased coverage of events in Russia and abroad

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. Top executives of more than 500 Russian-language media outlets from 63 countries are gathering in Moscow for the 17th World Russian Press Congress.

The event is held from June 9 through June 13 at Moscow’s World Trade Centre. The opening ceremony on Wednesday will signal the start of plenary sessions’ work. Newspaper executives and editors from around the world will give reports and hold news conferences.

Discussions are expected to focus on the development of a common Russian-language media space and cooperation of the journalist community for an unbiased coverage of events in Russia and abroad.

Another priority issue to be considered is the implementation of the fellow-countrymen’s rights to getting access to information and communications in their native tongue and the expansion of educational, cultural, informational, creative, and professional exchanges.

Vitaly Ignatenko, the President of the World Association of Russian Press (WARP) that acts as a facilitator of the event said the main objective of the congress was to make Russian speech in the media authoritative and weighty. "It is most important that people living outside Russia, both ethnic Russians and those who speak the Russian language, should have unbiased information and get much broader knowledge of this country compared with the opportunities offered by other media," Ignatenko told TASS.

Russia’s former minister of culture and the special presidential representative for international cultural cooperation, Mikhail Shvydkoy, who will attend the congress, agreed with its description as a crucially important event. "If we want to speak about a self-identity of the Russian people and the Russian world today, language is a crucial instrument for building up this identity," he said.

Among the participants of the event are Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the chief of Russia's presidential administration, Sergey Ivanov, State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin, TASS Director-General Sergei Mikhailov, WARP President Vitaly Ignatenko, and others.

WARP is the only global association of Russian-language journalists, publishers and CEOs of electronic and other media living and working outside Russia. The Bank of Moscow is the general partner of the congress and the telecommunications companies Rostelecom and Rosset are its official partners.