EU DIPLOMATS STUDY NOVOSIBIRSK REGION'S POTENTIAL








NOVOSIBIRSK, March 2, 2001. /From RIA Novosti correspondent/--An unusual foreign delegation, consisting of press attaches of EU countries' embassies to Moscow, has travelled to Russia's Novosibirsk Region, Siberia to study its economic and scientific potential.


	Diplomats from Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Holland, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain and Germany will also meet local media representatives to discuss the role of the press in the formation of civil society in Russia.


	Novosibirsk Governor Viktor Tolokonsky told the delegation that the region's administration was "ready for mutually advantageous cooperation." "Russia cannot always be the buyer on the world market, it's good they are beginning to realize it in the West," he said, adding that among the things the region can offer the world community is its complex of research institutes, which can be used to conduct various research.