The First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Education and Science, Gennady Onishchenko, took part in the meeting, as well as the Chairman of the Committee for Education, Science and Culture of the DPR People's Council, Natalia Volkova, and acting Minister of Education and Science of the LPR, Sergey Tsemkalo.

Opening the meeting, acting Minister of Education and Science of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Yevgeny Gorokhov, stressed the importance of integration into the scientific and educational space of the Russian Federation, and expressed his gratitude to Gennady Onishchenko for his constant help and support. “The work started in 2015 and brought tangible benefits. We proved that our universities can train specialists according to the high quality education standards of the Russian Federation, so it enabled our students to obtain the second diploma of the Russian sample. Over the past few years, 4.5 thousand of our graduates have received Russian diplomas. Donetsk National Medical University named after M. Gorky was the first to pass accreditation in the Russian Federation, having opened the way to other universities,” said Yevgeny Gorokhov.

He also focused on the areas of further integration activities that are to be worked on. “22 dissertation councils are working now; the new ones are preparing for the opening. The quality of thesis defences must be high enough for Russia to recognize them. In addition, we have finally resolved a very important issue: the State Committee on Science and Technology passed into the control of the Ministry of Education and Science. This will give us an opportunity to focus on those scientific works that are of interest not only for our state, but also for Russia,” the head of the educational department emphasized. Also there were mentioned other important objectives such as obtaining quotas from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for the training of specialists, providing financial support to universities that are to be accredited by the Russian Federation.

During the meeting, Gennady Onishchenko pointed out to the inextricable connection of our people with Russia – the connection that no one managed to break. “Donbass has always been the flagship of science, education, and the potential that has been accumulated and has fortunately been preserved must work in all spheres,” the State Duma Deputy said. In his speech, Gennady Onishchenko focused on the main points of the Russian Federation President’s message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of March 1, 2018. They include the formation of 12 National projects, where the issues of demography, health and education are of primary significance, as well as the implementation of the Law “On education in the Russian Federation", and the work of the State Duma to improve the legislative framework governing scientific activities. “Our country and the whole world are entering a new technological paradigm, where science occupies the most important place. This requires us to change the educational space and educational activities,” he emphasised.

Gennady Onishchenko congratulated the staff of Donetsk National Medical University named after M. Gorky on receiving the state accreditation of the Russian Federation. “After graduating from the university, the students will receive a diploma that will be recognized in Russia, and therefore in the whole world. Besides the received diploma does not mean the completion of the work, it is only the beginning,” said Gennady Onishchenko, who graduated from this University, and now is its Honorary Professor.

He also presented letters of appreciation for the training of highly qualified graduates to the Rector of Donetsk National Medical University named after M. Gorky, Grigory Ignatenko, as well as to the Vice-Rector for International Relations and Innovation Activities, Lyubov Volkova.

In his turn, Grigory Ignatenko noted that the recognition of the university in Russia is a high level of trust that must be justified. “We will make every effort so that our university could become a true university of the 21st century,” the rector said.

At the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Council of Rectors of the DPR universities, the rector of Donetsk National University, Svetlana Bespalova, summed up the results of the International Integration Forum “Russian World and Donbass: From Cooperation to Integration”, which was held in Donetsk from 23 to 26 October. This Forum became an important step towards further integration into the scientific and educational space of the Russian Federation.

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