Putin Declares Chelyabinsk To Host BRICS, SCO Summits In 2020 – OpEd
By the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chelyabinsk municipal administration will host the 12th edition of summit of BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2020, according to official Kremlin reports.
Chelyabinsk chosen as the venue for the 12th summit of BRICS leaders in 2020 in accordance with the signed decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 110 “On the Organisational Committee for the Preparation and Provision of the Russian Federation’s chairmanship in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2019-2020.”
Chelyabinsk is one of the major industrial provincial cities in Russia. It is located east of the Ural Mountains, about 200 km south of Yekaterinburg. Chelyabinsk is known as “The Gateway to Siberia” because the city is bisected by the river Miasis which is the border between the Urals and Siberia.
Chelyabinsk Governor Boris Dubrovsky visited Johannesburg (South Africa) on July 25-27, as part of the official delegation of the Russian Federation headed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to attend the 10th BRICS summit.
“The presidential decree on holding SCO and BRICS summits in Chelyabinsk in 2020 provides a tremendous opportunity for the development of the city. Currently, work is being actively carried out at key facilities related to the summit, projects are being implemented to develop engineering infrastructure and improve public spaces,” Dubrovsky told the local Russian media.
“The total amount of work is really impressive. The preparations for the summit require the utmost efforts of governments and businesses, especially construction project organisations, construction companies. For all of us — it is a test of professional competence. That is why the study of the experience of other cities is of particular importance,” he noted.
According to Kremlin report, the total amount of investments in preparation for the SCO and BRICS summits in Chelyabinsk will cost approximately 50 billion rubles, about half of these funds are private investments.
The 7th BRICS summit was successfully held on July 8-9 in Ufa, Bashkortostan, so it is expected that at the forthcoming SCO and BRICS summits in Chelyabinsk, the level of hospitality that Russia demonstrated by hosting events in Ufa in 2015 should be preserved.
“I am sure that the upcoming events will contribute to strengthening international cooperation, stabilising the international situation and developing economic ties between the member countries of the two authoritative organisations,” said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation.
Kobyakov is also the Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the Organising Committee for the preparation and provision of the Russian presidency of the SCO in 2019-2020 and the BRICs Association in 2020.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent regional international association that consists of eight (8) member states. It was established on 26 April 1996 as Shanghai Five in China.
During the SCO summit in Ufa on July 9-10, the beginning of the admission procedure for India and Pakistan was announced. The leaders of the SCO also decided to grant Belarus observer status, while Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal became dialogue partners.
BRICS, an informal association of five fast-developing countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – was founded in June 2006. Its first official summit was held in June 2009 in Yekaterinburg. Since then, BRICS summit is held every year on rotational basis.
