On the 24th of March, the new governor of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO) Alexander Vinnikov visited the Moscow office of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) to speak at length with the EAJC Secretary General, Professor Michael Chlenov. Alexander Vinnikov spoke about the plans of development for the region, and particularly about a large-scale project of a bridge over the Amur river that would unite Russia and China. This project should give a serious impulse to increase the welfare of the region.

The governor underscored that his plans include developing JAO particularly as a Jewish autonomous образования, as this is a serious factor that attracts the attention of the world Jewish community to the region and its needs. The leader of the region established his intention to support Jewish culture and religion (currently, there are two Jewish religious communities active in JAO). According to the governor, he would like to see the region not as a strange remnant of Stalinist national policy, but a dynamically developing autonomy with a serious national element.

The EAJC Secretary General, in turn, congratulated Alexander Vinnikov on behalf of EAJC President Alexander Mashkevich on his appointment to the position of governor. Professor Michael Chlenov noted that the EAJC sees the existence of JAO as an important factor of Jewish life in Russia. He reminded that the Congress unwaveringly supported the different national and cultural projects initiated by the JAO government, in particular, the traditional international festivals of Jewish culture in Birobijan. Professor Chlenov underscored the EAJC's readiness to work together on any mutually interesting projects, and expressed hope for a fruitful cooperation between the EAJC and JAO.