2005 Press Releases
Ambassador Burns Focuses on Economic Development, Trafficking in Persons, and HIV/AIDS During his First Visit to Yekaterinburg
November 17, 2005
Ambassador William Burns made his first official visit to Yekaterinburg on November 17. Sverdlovsk Oblast Governor Eduard Rossel and Deputy Polpred Victor Basargin met with the Ambassador and discussed a variety of issues facing the region including economic development, U.S.-Russia economic cooperation, public health, and intercommunal tolerance. The Ambassador participated in a roundtable discussion on the growing problem of HIV/AIDS in Sverdlovsk Oblast along with the Oblast’s Deputy Prime Minister for Social Issues, Semyon Spector. Sverdlovsk Oblast has the 5th highest ratio of HIV/AIDS cases per capita in Russia and this event, whose participants included governmental and NGO leaders in the fight against the disease, helped draw much needed public attention. Mr. Burns also spoke at a regional conference of governmental and non-governmental organizations engaged in fighting the problem of trafficking in persons. The conference took place November 16 and 17 in Yekaterinburg, and was organized jointly by the Federal Duma and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
The Ambassador visited the American Center and greeted staff and alumni of the FLEX exchange program who were driven to community activism by their experience in America. Additionally, the Ambassador met with students at Urals State University, and visited UGMK, which included a tour of a new production facility that uses American equipment. In the evening, the Ambassador hosted a reception for alumni of U.S. government sponsored exchange programs.
On November 18 Ambassador Burns will visit Shchuch’ye, in Kurgan Oblast, where the United States is building a facility to dispose of chemical weapons. This billion dollar project will assist Russia to meet its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention. Mr. Burns will also visit Chelyabinsk, where he will meet with government and business leaders.
