St. Petersburg College President Carl M. Kuttler Jr. Hosts Russian Delegation During Visit to Tampa Bay

Business and government leaders from Russia visited St. Petersburg College and the Tampa Bay area as part of a program sponsored by the Open World Leadership Center.

(PRWEB) November 29, 2006 --A group of five business and government leaders from Russia visited St. Petersburg College and the Tampa Bay area as part of a program sponsored by the Open World Leadership Center, a program started in 1999 by the U.S. Congress.

The delegation arrived at Tampa International Airport on Friday, Nov. 3 and left for home Saturday, Nov. 11. They were hosted during their stay by SPC President Carl M. Kuttler Jr.

The group's nine-day visit schedule was filled with activities of all kinds, from an inspection of the U.S. election on Nov. 7 to visits to Walt Disney World, visits with local business and government leaders, and in-home visits with local citizens.

The Russian group includes Dmitry Mikhaylovich Kozachenko, deputy chairperson of the Land and Property Affairs Committee of the Krasnodar Region Legislature; Gennadiy Aleksandrovich Murshudov, general director of Legal Company Femida LLC; Dmitriy Aleksandrovich Ryabov, minister of investments and foreign relations, Ulyanovsk Region, Ulyanovsk Region Administration; Igor Vladimirovich Yeremin, deputy minister, head of Consumer Affairs and Government Purchasing Department, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Orenburg Region; and the trip facilitator, Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Buzhinskiy, Department of EFL Methodology, Chair, Kursk State University.

According to its website, the Open World Program "brings small delegations of emerging leaders from Eurasia to the United States to see American style democracy in action, and to help forge better understanding between the two nations." It is a unique, nonpartisan initiative that builds mutual understanding between the emerging leaders of participating countries and their U.S. counterparts. It also exposes delegates to ideas and practices they can adapt for use in their own work.

Founded in 1999 with a focus on Russia, the program has also in recent years hosted delegations from Lithuania, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Delegates range from mayors to journalists, from nonprofit directors to small-business owners and from political activists to high-court judges. More than 10,500 Open World participants have been hosted in all 50 U.S. states. The program's administering agency, the Open World Leadership Center, is a legislative branch entity with offices at the Library of Congress.

For more information on Open World, visit http://www.openworld.gov. For more information on St. Petersburg College, visit www.spcollege.edu.

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