Penza, 16 May 2014. PenzaNews. The fifth international workshop on glassworks and glass sculpture dedicated to the 250th anniversary of glassworks foundation in the region organized by the Penza region government, the regional Department of Culture and Archives and “Center of cluster development,” JSC, finished its work in Nikolsk.

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24 masters from France, Latvia, Turkey, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Russia took part in the event. Russia was represented by glass-blowers from Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Tver, Vishniy Volochek, Penza and Nikolsk.

During the closing ceremony, Vasiliy Bochkarev, governor of Penza region, expressed his gratitude to all the participants and informed the audience of his decision to make the next-year workshop 21 days long instead of 10.

“I think the workshop must last 21 days so that the creative people would have time to turn their ideas into real projects with high quality, as well as to travel through Penza region – visit Lermontov, Radishchev, Meyerkhold, and the museums,” the governor explained.

Vasiliy Bochkarev presented gratitudes to Nail Vakhidov, owner of Nikolskiy light glass factory, and the other glassworks cluster representatives, for dedicated work and enormous contribution to the development of glassworks industry.

“In the harsh 1990-s, Nail Vakhidov saved the enterprise, modernized it, and not only kept the workplaces but created new ones with the new equipment bought in Italy,” the governor said.

Speaking of the township-forming enterprise of Nikolsk, head of the region placed the emphasis on the importance of developing industrial tourism in the region.

“We must lay down a tourist route here, place the necessary power lines and all we need. For that, business and government must unite and build a worthy hotel here by the next workshop, while Nikolsk is already becoming popular around the world,” head of the region said.

Continuing the issue of developing industrial tourism in Nikolsk, Mikhail Lyashkov, director of the Center of cluster development, said that three land sites have been allocated for this task by the town administration and that they are looking for the investors to build a full-fledged hotel.

“In addition to that, the short-term plans of the Nikolsk glassworks cluster participants include researching the unusual case of Finland where glassworks industry cooperates with tourism very well. Also, during the last workshop, we’ve met the heads of Moscow and Saint-Petersburg college departments dedicated to college-educating glassworks specialists, and made a deal to sign a trilateral agreement,” Mikhail Lyashkov said in an interview to PenzaNews agency.

He explained that the deal will be about the cooperative work of college diploma students and local masters in Nikolsk enterprises, and producing new items that are in demand on the market.