Russian PM hopes Azerbaijan will participate in Intervision Song Contest

BAKU. March 6 (Interfax) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he hopes Azerbaijan will participate in the Intervision Song Contest in Russia.

"We will conduct a big contest called Intervision, in which I hope brilliant performers from Azerbaijan will participate. The contest will be big, and preparations are now being made," he said at a meeting with women representing public organizations.

Mishustin congratulated them on March 8, Women's Day, and said this day is partially another family holiday.

"We in Russia give a lot of attention to family [...] And family is impossible without women. How can one speak about that? Therefore, I want to tell you once again that March 8 is a day that is such a bright holiday to us, Russians, and, I am certain, to Azerbaijan, and I would even say a family day. Another family day. All these things are transmitted through women," Mishustin said.

He also said he is certain the first showing of the play Eight Loving Women in Azerbaijan's State Academic Russian Drama Theater, which will take place on March 8, will be greeted with a lot of joy and will be successful.

Responding to a question about support to theaters, Mishustin spoke about the current program to support Russian theaters in the CIS states and the envisaged financing of new plays associated with Russian classics.

"We will not just continue this program, but we will see what other good things we can do," he said.

The first international Intervision Song Contest is expected to be held in Russia in 2024.

Mishustin said the idea of launching such contest was stated by culture figures. "They see it as [an] annual [event], and open to all states that share our spiritual values and are ready for a mutually respectful and equitable dialogue," Mishustin said at a meeting of CIS Heads of Government Council in November 2023.