The Vologda Region Days conclude at the National Centre RUSSIA

---

The Vologda Region Days were held at the National Centre RUSSIA from 3 to 8 February. The event was part of the programme of thematic regional days at the "Book of Fairy Tales" exposition. The central event of the week was the presentation of the region's development strategy, delivered by the Governor of the Vologda region, Georgy Filimonov.

The region's development strategy is aimed both at creating comfortable living conditions for the residents, and at their future. According to the governor, all of the Vologda region’s economic achievements are directed towards solving the task of preserving the population.

"Our budget has a pronounced social character — last year it was 99.2 billion roubles spent on social obligations and expenditures. At the same time, the budget allocates 53.3 billion roubles to infrastructure development. These figures show the scale of our work," stated Georgy Filimonov.

Over 7,800 families made use of support measures in 2025. These include a 50 percent compensation for housing and utility costs, the creation of 26 free rental points for newborn essentials at young parent centres, the launch of the "Social Nanny" service, and the introduction in 2024 of the "Transport for Large Families" programme, under which 70 large families raising seven or more children were provided with cars.

The governor also focused on the demographic issue. The Vologda region rose by ten positions in the demographic ranking of Russian regions — reaching 40th place. Mortality decreased in the Vologda region, and the number of marriages increased. For the first time in 11 years, the region overcame depopulation and showed the maximum growth in the total fertility rate over the past 13 years. Today, it is in the TOP-5 regions where the total fertility rate has increased by more than 0.044 points. According to Georgy Filimonov, the goal by 2030 is to reach a rate of 1.62.

Another important topic addressed in detail by the head of the region is the development of tourism potential. He stated that today the Vologda region is among the top three leading regions in Russia in terms of tourist numbers during the winter holidays, surpassed only by Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The governor added that the goal is to enter the TOP-5 Russian regions for year-round tourism. The region’s territory hosts about 3.500 cultural heritage sites. Among them are the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and the Ferapontov Monastery with 15th-century frescoes by Dionysius, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The governor emphasized that, following the instruction of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to establish a special economic zone of tourist-recreational type in Veliky Ustyug, an application has been submitted to the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia. Furthermore, work is currently underway to create the infrastructure for the "Vologodskaya" special economic zone of industrial-production type in the settlement of Leskovo. By 2035, the volume of investments made by potential SEZ residents is projected to reach 11.4 billion roubles, with 1,056 jobs created.

The Vologda region is also becoming a point of attraction for active recreation enthusiasts. This topic was the subject of a separate discussion within the educational intensive "Running Across the Russian North: Discovering the Vologda Region". Amateur runners became interested in races in small cities. The current Russian market consists of 110,000 active running tourists who bring with them 175,000 supporters.

"We are actively working on creating marathon routes. Currently, thanks in part to teams from Vologda and Gatchina, a project has been initiated aimed at uniting half-marathons in the northwest of our country. This will help meet the demand for trips to small towns and provide an economic effect," said Vladimir Voloshin, founder and organiser of large-scale running events.

As part of the thematic week, visitors to the National Centre RUSSIA participated in the gastronomic show "The Taste of Vologda". They not only sampled dishes but also learned how to preserve the natural flavour of ingredients. The audience was treated to pancakes with added products from the farms in the Vologda region. Following this, the guests were served a roll of Vologda pike-perch with rogulka and crushed potatoes, and to conclude the programme, the chefs presented a traditional dessert dish from the Vologda lands — dezhen made from oat flour with cream made from baked milk.

Throughout the week, visitors to the Department Store RUSSIA at the National Centre had a chance to take a look at and purchase chaga-based tea beverages, and wooden educational toys for children. Chaga tea is made from the birch fungus, traditionally classified as a northern functional food. Guests of the Department Store praised the drink not only for its taste and aroma but also for the expressive look of its packaging, which can later be used as a box.

Visitors could also view and purchase wooden toys made by Vologda artisans. Different types of wood, natural oils, and paints are used in their production, making the items tactilely pleasant and safe. The Vologda products demonstrate how regional manufacturers combine craft experience, an eco-friendly approach to materials, and growing interest in conscious consumption.

The next region to present its thematic days at the National Centre RUSSIA will be the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area. All events at the National Centre RUSSIA are free of charge. Some of them require registration in advance on the website russia.ru. Please see the current schedule of events in the "Events" section.