Maine Exchanges With the Former Soviet Union

Below is a list of schools, organizations, and institutions in and near Maine that are engaged in ongoing exchanges with nations of the former Soviet Union or that promote the culture and heritage of those countries.  This page is still a work in progress.  Please send any corrections or additions to the webmaster.

Links to external web sites will open in a separate window.  Neither links to web sites of other organizations and institutions nor descriptions of their activities on this web site should be construed as as official endorsements by the Kotlas Connection.

Sister Cities

• Kotlas - Waterville Area Sister City Connection
• Archangel Committee of Greater Portland
• Portsmouth (NH) / Severodvinsk Connection

NOTE:  Kotlas, Arkhangelsk, and Severodvinsk are the principal cities of the Archangel Region in northwestern Russia.

College & University Russian Programs

• Bates College
• Bowdoin College
• Colby College
• University of Southern Maine

School Partnerships

• University of Maine at Farmington / Komi State Pedagogical Institute
• Maine Maritime Academy / Makarov State Maritime Academy

Musical Organizations

• Liberty Balalaika Ensemble
• Rachmaninoff Festival Choir
• Surry Opera Company

Visual and Performing Arts

• Bossov Ballet Theatre
  (Founded by a former principal dancer of the Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg)
• Foundation Fiore Verde

Churches and Monasteries

• St. Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church
• Holy Nativity Russian Orthodox Church
• St. Anthony's Monastery
  (Established in the late 1940's by Franciscan friars from Lithuania)

Businesses

• Kremlin Gifts
• Peace Fleece
• Orthodox Christian Recorded Books

Other Exchanges

• Portsmouth Peace Treaty
  (Web Site celebrating the centennial of the Treaty of Portsmouth, N.H., which ended the Russo-Japanese War)
• Maine Adoption Placement Service
  (Arranges adoptions from several foreign countries, including Russia)
• Slavophile Society
• Future Leaders Exchange
  (Brings 4 high exchange students to Maine each year from the former Soviet Union)
• Samantha Smith Foundation

Home