The Russian organization, National Research Institute of Communications Development, held a conference in Tbilisi today, April 22, titled Russia and the World: Dialogue - 2024. Forces of Attraction. According to Agent Media, the institute was established by the Russian State Security Committee former employees, the Foreign Intelligence Council, and the Federal Security Service.
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Announcement says that experts from Russia and Georgia discussed the topic Traditional Values as a Factor in Bringing Countries and Peoples Together within the framework of the conference. Valentina Komleva, deputy director of the Krasnodar Scientific Research Institute, political strategist Yevgeny Minchenko, and Alexander Yakovlev, a leading researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, were scheduled to speak at the conference. Yevgenia Goryushina, the leading expert at the Institute of World Military Economy and Strategy of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University, was also slated to participate in the conference.
The co-organizers of the event are two Georgian organizations: the Eurasia Institute and the SIKHA Foundation.
The location of the conference was not announced. Valentina Komleva confirmed to Agent Media that the conference was indeed held in Tbilisi. However, "due to her busy schedule, she could not discuss this issue in detail."
Agent Media reports that the National Research Institute for Communications Development has been in existence since 2020. Among its co-founders are:
- Lieutenant-General Nikolai Gribin is a former KGB resident in Copenhagen, former head of the KGB's Third Department (responsible for, among other things, Great Britain, Australia, and Scandinavia), and former head of foreign affairs.
- Irina Zavesnitskaya is a businessman who, according to leaked information, is registered at the same address as Vladislav Gasumyanov, the director of the National Research Institute of Communications Development. According to his officially published biography, Gasumyanov served in Russia's State Security Committee, the Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Federal Security Service from 1982 to 2001. He also worked as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the President for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries and was on the board of directors of the largest nickel mining company, Nornickel. Since 2015, he has been the head of the Norilsk department - Corporate Security - at the Moscow State University of International Relations. In 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Vladislav Gasumyanov with the Order of Merit.
Agent Media reports that, in addition to Gasumyanov and Gribina, the supervisory board of the National Research Institute of Communications Development includes other former employees of the Soviet and Russian special services. These include Lieutenant General Anatoly Bolyukh, the former head of the 5th Service of the Operational Information Department of the Federal Security Service (responsible for foreign relations with partners); Lieutenant General Boris Miroshnikov, the former deputy head of the Department of Counterintelligence Operations of the Federal Security Service; and Colonel-General Valentin Sobolev, the former deputy director of the Federal Counterintelligence Service and former secretary of the Russian Security Council.
The event held today in Tbilisi is one of the 5 sessions held abroad within the framework of the conference Russia and the World: Dialogue 2024. Forces of Attraction. On April 19, a session was held in occupied Tskhinvali, with the topic The Role of Partially Recognized States in the Modern World: Mechanisms of Development of Allied Relations. The remaining sessions this month have either already been held or will be held in Dushanbe, Minsk, and Bishkek. Representatives of the Kremlin and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia have participated in similar conferences in past years.
Archil Sikharulidze is the founder of SIKHA, the organizer of the Tbilisi session. In December 2022, Sikharulidze participated in an event organized by the State Council of the Russian Federation, where the restoration of direct flights between Russia and Georgia, the development of economic relations, and the cancellation of the visa regime for Georgian citizens were discussed. The founder of the Eurasian Institute is Gulbaat Rtskhiladze, who sends aid to the Russian military in Ukraine and supports Georgia's economic cooperation with Russia.
