RESOLUTION NO. 970800

Welcoming Russian Entrepreneurs in the bakery and milling industries to the United States and Kansas City.

WHEREAS, from May 10 to June 7, Missouri businesses will become training sites for Russian Entrepreneurs in the bakery and milling industries who are risking their all to build individual businesses and private enterprise in Russia; and

WHEREAS, the Productivity Enhancement Program is based on the post-WWII Marshall Plan's technical assistance program, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this June. Ten bakery and milling entrepreneurs from Russia will come to Kansas City to learn from their American counterparts in an all-out effort to boost the fledgling Russian free market economy; and

WHEREAS, the Productivity Enhancement Program works in partnership with local civic organizations. MO-ARK Division IV Kiwanis International is coordinating this historic effort by identifying volunteer training sites, arranging home accommodations, scheduling transportation and organizing cultural and social events; and

WHEREAS, this visit serves as a reminder of the friendly ties of the citizens of the United States of America, the "melting pot" nation, to Russian Entrepreneurs and all other people and illustrates again how all people who share this Planet Earth are truly brothers and sisters with a common wish to live together in peace; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

That the Mayor and Council hereby welcome to the United States of America and to Kansas City, Missouri, the Russian Entrepreneurs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Mayor and Council hereby declare our visitors to be honorary citizens of Kansas City, Missouri; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be spread upon the Minutes of the Council and that copies hereof be presented to Igor Batrakin, Murad Bjigakov, Leonid Bondarenko, Vladislav Chereven, Inna Kotliar, Anatoli Kourbatov, Tamara Mamonova, Olga Matveeva, Vladimir Shestakov and Alexandre Stepanov in token of the respect and esteem in which they are held in the hearts and minds of the Mayor and Council for the seemingly small step they have taken on behalf of all American and Russian Entrepreneurs on the road which leads towards assuring world peace.

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