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A meeting between Oleg Melnichenko and Yevgenia Gutsul took place in Sochi.

In 2003, the Penza Oblast and Gagauzia, the autonomous territorial association within the Republic of Moldova, signed an agreement on socio-economic, scientific, technical, and cultural cooperation. Oleg Melnichenko noted that this basic document has not been implemented at full capacity, and there is a huge potential for moving forward.

"For us, the Gagauz people are not just partners in the agreement, we are actually close in spirit and faith," the governor stressed. Since 2022, the trade turnover between our regions has been decreasing due to certain international circumstances, but I do not think that these circumstances are force majeure. The Penza Oblast will increase cooperation with Gagauzia. We are primarily interested in environmentally friendly agricultural products produced, cultural exchange and cooperation in the field of education. The Penza Oblast is one of the largest educational centers in Russia, where specialists are trained in a number of areas."
"We have been friends with Russia for many decades, it is very important to continue this relationship. In recent years, pressure has been exerted on Gagauzia from Chisinau, because we do not vote the way the authorities want, they want to make us pay for our choice," said Yevgenia Gutsul. "But despite attempts to isolate us from Russia, we are interested in cooperation."

The head of Gagauzia proposed to organize a meeting of students and teachers with Penza specialists in order to learn from pedagogical experience and give Gagauz youth the opportunity to study at Penza universities and colleges.
The Governor invited the delegation of Gagauzia to the Penza Oblast, instructing to create a working group on socio-economic cooperation under the leadership of Vice-Governor Sergei Fedotov. Yevgenia Gutsul also suggested holding a meeting between representatives of the executive and legislative authorities so that the work on deepening cooperation would be as effective as possible.