Rossotrudnichestvo promotes Russia abroad

Foreign states lack true information about Russia, but this problem will be fixed, head of Rossotrudnichestvo Constantine Kosachyov says. His organization is forming a positive image of Russia abroad, ITAR-TASS reports.

The diplomat said that some foreign descriptions of Russian history, traditions, current state are shocking. The best way to cope with this problem is communicate with people, he suggested. Citizens of the USSR had no opportunities to learn about the life of Western states directly.

Another prospect in forming a positive image of Russia is development of tourism. The number of tourists grows.

Rossotrudnichestvo plans to open offices in over 100 states of the world by 2020. Kosachyov emphasized that the missions will also improve their quality.

The diplomat reminded that there used to be an efficient network of foreign centers, but the system was scrapped due to economic problems. Rossotrudnichestvo has been operating for only 3.5 years, but has opened offices in 73 states.

Kosachyov is a special envoy of the Russian president for links with CIS states, where about 20 million Russian compatriots live. Rossotrudnichestvo supports studies of the Russian language abroad, cultural and enlightenment programs. But Russian communities abroad still have many humanitarian, social, legal problems and expect Russian support.