Obninsk mayor seeks to keep sister-city ties

Reproduced from the Oak Ridger, April 20, 2001

 by Amy L. Lee
Oak Ridger staff

Relations with Oak Ridge's Russian Sister City of Obninsk are alive and well, judging by a recent letter from the new mayor of Obninsk and comments from Oak Ridge Mayor Jerry Kuhaida.

Elections held in Obninsk on March 18 resulted in the appointment of Igor M. Maronov as mayor, and according to a letter of introduction from him, he appointed Former Mayor Vadim A. Yamkin to be the director of the International Relations and Investments Department for the city of Obninsk.

Prior to the election, Maronov served as the vice mayor for Construction and Public Transportation for the city of Obninsk, and according to the letter, he has been a supporter of and participant in Sister City activities.

Obninsk was formerly a closed city and is the first officially recognized Russian science city. It is this similarity to Oak Ridge that fostered the sister-city relationship.

Obninsk still strives "to create a model of self-sustainable development by means of high-tech companies, innovation activity and technology transfer," Maranov said in the letter. He said the city is "very much interested in economic cooperation between our cities and hopes to see Oak Ridge businesses working in Obninsk."

We "would like to continue municipal exchanges ... while the ways in which we do business might be different, observations, comparisons and sharing ideas will bear fruit for both communities."

Already the two cities have worked together to improve health care, education, science, culture, sports and business endeavors in Obninsk.

Kuhaida said he appreciated the letter and that Oak Ridge "needs to be reminded ... that we've got a long-term relationship with Obninsk. It's something we don't publicize enough in terms of the impact Oak Ridge had on Obninsk."

Kuhaida noted that the basis of the relationship is technology driven, but that achievements had been made, specifically in medicine and business. According to him, 43 new businesses were established as a result of the sister-city relationship as Obninsk citizens have come here to learn.

"They take that information back and go to it," Kuhaida said.

"Their economy is about as basic as you can get ... it's not much higher than barter. Communism went away and there was nothing to replace it, so Oak Ridge has played a major role in the city's stabilization," he said. "Their country was a major nuclear power, and whose economy has been totally reversed and collapsed."

Kuhaida said the thing he finds amazing is that their city's administration uses the Internet to get information out to citizens -- by using models from here, such as Oak Ridge's Web site.

Obninsk, in turn, serves as a model for other Russian cities.

"I believe they need to look to Obninsk because they've done a lot of things no other city has done," Kuhaida said.

Additionally, Kuhaida said he saw during a visit there last April that the city has a global I system, which is available for the public's use.

"They picked it up and have been applying it over there for six years. We've been talking about it for six years," Kuhaida said, referring to Oak Ridge.

Emphasizing that the importance is on maintaining the relationship, Kuhaida said, "Once you establish that trust, it's there. We don't tell them what to do -- we help them do what they need to do."

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