Penza, 13 September 2017. PenzaNews. The rector of Penza State University Alexander Gulyakov opened the 5th Flensburg-Penza Congress in the German language as a sign of respect to the German delegation.

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"Please do not criticize my 'good' German too severely, I will do my best," he said in Russian at the opening ceremony in Penza State University on Wednesday, September 13.

Then, Alexander Gulyakov, who is also the chairman of the council of rectors of the Penza region, turned to those present in the foreign language. He read the speech, which he had prepared beforehand, paying attention to pronunciation and making logical stresses.

"We are happy that the Flensburg-Penza Congress has become a tradition. We have met for the fifth time today. We can see our old friends in the hall including Peter Lorenzen, head of the Flensburg-Penza Friendship Society, the Flensburg president Swetlana Krätzschmar, Prof. Abderrahman Machraoui, Prof. Michael Krätzschmar, colleagues of the DIAKO clinic, as well as colleagues from European University of Flensburg," the rector of Penza State University said.

He also noted that for the second time the event was attended by Ellen von Zitzevitz, adviser of the Economy and Science Department of German embassy in Russia.

"We are very glad that you accepted our invitation. That means we are going in the right direction," Alexander Gulyakov added.

The rector of the largest Penza university expressed hope that during the congress, the participants would not only sum up results of their collaboration over the last years but would also set goals for the immediate future and plan new projects.

At the end of his speech, Alexander Gulyakov wished those present productive work.