Rustam Minnikhanov takes part in the signing of an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Artek International Children's Centre via videoconference

On June 1, Deputy Prime Minister of Tatarstan Leila Fazleeva and Director of the Artek International Children’s Centre Konstantin Fedorenko signed a cooperation agreement between the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the the Artek International Children’s Centre.

Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, who was at the Kama Centre for Organization of Health, Leisure and Employment of Children and Teenagers in Nizhnekamsk municipal region, took part in the event via videoconference.

Minnikhanov said during the event that this year it is planned to repair 11 children's recreation camps, 5 youth centres, 17 youth and teenage clubs. “I should say that, unfortunately, the infrastructure for supporting young people, especially summer health camps, is in poor condition. Many health camps were lost, although some were preserved, including camps that belong to industrial companies,” Tatarstan President said.

He said that today, during his working trip to Nizhnekamsk region of the republic, he visited  the Kama Centre for the Organization of Health, Leisure and Employment of Children and Teenagers. “We have visited the renewed Kama center, which meets all modern requirements. Repair and reconstruction work was carried out with high quality and good conditions were created for the recreation and health of children. It is important that this camp has the opportunity to work year-round, and I think it can become a platform for holding regional local events,” Minnikhanov said.

Tatarstan President also reminded that as many as 1888 children's health-improving organizations will receive about 218,000 children in the republic this year. “As many as 1 billion 615 million rubles were allocated from the budget and we plan that all our recreation camps will be ready by June 15. So far, taking into account all  the recommendations given by the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), the date for the opening of children's camps is July 1. We hope that there will be an opportunity to open earlier, but in the current conditions the main thing is to ensure the safe stay of children during the holidays,” Minnikhanov emphasized.

Fazleeva noted that summer vacations for children have been and remain one of the most important areas for both families and the state social policy of the republic. “Today, all the basic work on updating the infrastructure for organizing summer vacations has been completed. We paid special attention to the projects that will be implemented in the summer holidays. This season requires a special attitude - in terms of implementing the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor,” Leyla Fazleeva said.

During the videoconference, it was noted that currently there are three all-Russian health-improving children's centres and one international center - the Artek camp, the largest and most modern today, in Russia.

Since July 2018, the Governor's Camp project has been implemented in Artek. This is a new approach in working with children.

So, after signing the agreement, the Kama Centre for the Organization of Recreation, Leisure and Employment of Children and Teenagers  will be renamed as the Kama Artek. A a completely new infrastructure for recreation and development of children with the possibility of organizing inclusive multi-format recreation was created there. The centre will operate year-round, conditions for organizing family vacations are created there.

The Kama Centre will become one of the six branches of the Artek International Children's Centre in Russia.

It is symbolic that the agreement with the Artek International Children's Center was signed on June 1, on the International Children's Day.

At the end of the event, Minnikhanov said that he was lucky to visit Artek when he was a child.