The Project is a model for the international medical community devoted to assisting developing countries. The unique characteristics include:

• Collaboration and trust between the Russian leaders and Western experts;
• Continuity – all the physicians who started in 1998 are still involved and continuing involvement with the 3 trained faculty;
• Two high ranking members of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) visited St.Petersburg in May 2006 and visited with faculty and saw the new unit headed by Dr. Andrey Gurevich.

Dr. Norbert Lamiere who was one of the visitors stated to Dr. Fred Finkelstein of our group that “the unit was the best he had seen in the developing world” – he was impressed with the accomplishments of the project and supportive of team members continuing and participating in activities currently planned for June 2007.

The team held a detailed conference call on July 31, 2006:

• Dr. Finkelstein reported on an international meeting in Vicenza held in May where he spoke with Dr. Lamiere;
• Dr. Cohen reported on the ISN Moscow meeting;

The group considered its next steps:

• Communicate officially with Dr. Lamiere
• Communicate with Dr. Konstantin and Dr. Andrey Gurevich
• Provide a working draft for ourselves and others, as needed, for us to consider before the International Meeting of Nephrology, San Diego – November 2006

The February 5, 2005 Ball was a resounding success – photos are included in the photo gallery.

Do let us hear from you by entering the contact us page – thank you – looking forward to hearing from you. Ellin Lieberman, M.D. President

Plans for the Ball:

Save the Date: February 5, 2005 at the Casa del Mar Hotal – Annual Russian Ball

Special Awardees:
Russian Federal Consul General
Honorable Victor Lizun

Tim Bruinsma
International business attorney with extensive work in Russia – + notable
Charity involvements -
Previous member of the LASPSCC Board

Dr. Alexander Gershman
Moscow born and trained urologist
President, American Russian Medical Association
On the staff of 5 Los Angeles Hospitals
Travels to Russia , performs surgery and does on-site training

The Membership meeting will be at the UCLA Faculty Center on September 22, 2004.

The 2005 Ball will be February 5, 2005 at the Casa del Mar in Santa Monica.

Greetings from Sister Cities International! I hope you are doing well.

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to participate in the U.S. – Russian Forum to be held at the Sister Cities International Annual Conference on Wednesday, July 14, 2004. The Forum will introduce and report on various U.S. – Russian conferences, symposiums, and meetings that have occurred over the past two years. Many of our members were not able to attend these amazing events, therefore, this Forum will capture the main ideas and information that took place either in the United States or in Russia. The Forum will also provide the opportunity for U.S. – Russian sister city partnerships, partnering organizations, and international delegates to discuss how best to sustain U.S. – Russian exchanges in light of decreasing federal support of programs and projects that have involved the U.S. and Russian communities. In 2003, Sister Cities International launched the Sister Cities Network for Sustainable Development, which looks upon strengthening and developing the sister city partnerships between the United States and other countries. The Network seeks to assist sister city members and their partners to build their capacity to work on programs that affect the local communities in areas such as health, social and economic development, protection of the environment, sustainable energy systems, and good governance. Sister Cities International is committed to assisting members of the Network in finding additional resources to support existing programs.

Attached is the schedule for the U.S.- Russian Forum. We hope that the U.S. – Russian Forum is not one year event, but a continuous dialogue, which will allow the sister city affiliations to network with each other and learn from each other’s programs, grants, and fundraising experiences. If your sister city is having difficulties with your partner or at the local level you are having trouble in finding which programs to do or you are a new partnership and you don’ t know what programs you would like to be involved in with your sister city in Russia, the U.S. – Russian Forum will be great event for you to attend to see other models, which sister cities are using and maybe help you to reorganize your sister city program. Hopefully, this exchange of ideas and experiences will strengthen the U.S. – Russian Sister City Network even more.

Please confirm your attendance by replaying to this message or calling me at 202-347-4874.

I hope to see you in Forth Worth, TX!

Kind regards,

Arisha Dmitriyeva
Open World Program Manager,
Friendship Tour Organizer & Regional Fellow for Eurasia

*Please pass this information to any party who would be interested in attending.

Arisha Dmitriyeva
Open World Program Manager &
Friendship Tour Organizer
Regional Fellow for Eurasia
Sister Cities International
1301 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Suite 850
Washington, DC 20004
tel: 202-347-4874
fax: 202-393-6524
www.sister-cities.org

The Special Delegation of Russian judges sponsored by the Open Society flew to Los Angeles on Saturday, November 8. Dr. Ellin Lieberman, President of the Los-Angeles-St. Petersburg Sister City Committee ( LASPSCC) and her husband Dr. Harry Lieberman, along with Board member Barry Gore and his Russian-born wife , Tatiana, met them at the airport and transported them to the Renaissance Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles’ only top rated downtown historic hotel in Los Angeles. On Saturday evening the Liebermans and Barry Gore took them to dinner at Tesoro Restaurant, an Italian restaurant a block away from the hotel.

On Sunday morning the Liebermans started the day with a Dim Sum brunch at the Empress Pavilion Restaurant in Chinatown (a Los Angeles landmark). Following brunch they saw the Music Center built in 1967 and then went on to the newly opened (and already world renowned) Disney Hall designed by Frank Gehry.The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra was joined by the Los Angeles Chorale in a marvelous rendition of Haydn’s Creation. One judge commented that the music was better than any thing she had heard in St. Petersburg; the concert left her speechless.

After the concert the judges went to the Lieberman’s for dinner. Judge Bufford and his wife, Barry Gore and his wife were joined by Pat Evans from LASPSCC. In addition, the dinner included Darrel Menthe, Judge Bufford’s former law clerk (and his girlfriend) who speaks Russian, and Judge Bufford’s extern Leonora Gorelik who speaks Russian and was born in Minsk.

On Monday morning the Russian judges met with Judge Bufford in the visiting judge’s chambers next to Judge Bufford’s at the Roybal Federal Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. After an orientation session, Dennis Tibayan led the Russian judges on a tour of the courthouse, its facilities, its file room and its automation systems.

After the courthouse tour the Russian judges went to the law offices of Kirkland & Ellis, an international law firm, to meet with lawyers and to see the operation of a large law firm. The Russian judges skipped a planned tour of the law office to spend their time meeting with partners of the firm, including Richard Wynne, a leading international insolvency specialist. The judges had a lively discussion with seven or eight law firm partners.

After lunch, the judges returned to the courthouse and met with Judge Maureen Tighe, who has served as United States Trustee for the region including the Central District of California for the last five years. In addition to discussing the supervisory responsibilities of a United States Trustee in the bankruptcy process, Judge Tighe also discussed the prosecution of bankruptcy crimes (Judge Tighe was the leading bankruptcy crime prosecutor in the United States before her appointment as United States Trustee).

After the meeting with Judge Tighe, the delegation met with Elga Sharpe, the Chief of Protocol for Mayor James K. Hahn ,at Los Angeles City Hall. She presented official “ Welcome Certificates” from the City to each judge, along with some mementos. In turn, the judges also gave Ms. Sharpe some gifts from Russia. Ms. Sharpe took the group to the Bradley Room in the top floor of City Hall, where they enjoyed a panoramic view of Los Angeles. They could see the world famous Hollywood sign. The day was fairly clear, and it was possible to see the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains to the north, Catalina Island to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. In addition, there was a beautiful sunset.

Thereafter, Barry Gore, accompanied the group for a shopping expedition. . In typical fashion of visitors from eastern Europe, they had brought shopping instructions from friends and relatives. Barry Gore took them to dinner at a downtown restaurant.

Tuesday was Veterans’ Day, a United States holiday; all courts were closed. The group visited the Getty Museum, a world-renowned museum on a mountain top in the outskirts of Los Angeles. Thereafter, they went to a beach house in Malibu where they were entertained by Professor Judy Sloan, a bankruptcy law professor at Southwestern University Law School. After walking on the beach and having dinner, the Russians enjoyed a concert by a piano quartet including Dr. Bill Sloan, playing on his Guarnerius violin. It turned out that Judge Natalia Kuznetsova from St. Petersburg is an accomplished pianist (although a little out of practice); she played for the guests as well. The evening ended with a rendition of “Old Man River” from Showboat by Judge Bufford.

Wednesday was a busy day for the Russian judges at the courthouse. At 9:30 a.m. they attended the hearings in Judge Bufford’s courtroom on motions for relief from the moratorium resulting from the filing of a bankruptcy case. They saw one creditor sanctioned for violating the moratorium by delaying the return of a debtor’s automobile after the bankruptcy filing and telling the debtor that the automobile would not be returned.

At 10:00 a.m. the Russian judges went to see an extended cash collateral hearing in a new chapter 11 reorganization case before Judge Ernest Robles. This turned out to be a complicated hearing that lasted an hour. When it was finished they returned to Judge Bufford’s courtroom to attend his 11:00 a.m. hearing calendar. After the morning’s hearings, the Russian judges met with Judge Bufford for a discussion.

At noon the Russian judges had lunch with several bankruptcy judges sitting in Los Angeles. The lunch meeting included a lively discussion about bankruptcy practices in Russia and in the United States. After lunch the Russians attended the hearings on Judge Bufford’s afternoon calendar. Thereafter, they again met with Judge Bufford.

At 4:00 p.m. the judges were guests at a reception sponsored by the International Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association in the courthouse lobby. Approximately 30 people attended the reception, including lawyers, bankruptcy judges and a number of law clerks.

On Wednesday evening, the Russian judges attended a law class at Southwestern University on bankruptcy law, normally taught by Professor Sloan. On this evening Judge Bufford was a guest lecturer on the subject of professional responsibility in bankruptcy cases. After the class, the law school hosted a reception attended by many students in the bankruptcy class, as well as other law students at the university.

On Thursday Barry Gore hosted the group on a tour of Hollywood and Universal Studios, where they were treated to a VIP tour of the facilities and programs. Universal Studios was a hit. The judges enjoyed the guided tram tour but enjoyed even more the rides and attractions. The “Back to the Future” ride left them in disbelief, but they were rudely awakened when they got splashed at the Jurassic Park boat ride.

Dinner was hosted by Dr. Vladamir Zelman, Co-Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at the U.S.C. School of Medicine. In addition , Dr. Zelman has received many honors – most notably including being a member of the Russian Academy of Science.The Russian dinner was prepared by Tatiana Gore and Dr. Zelman’s housekeeper. The group was impressed by Dr. Zelman’s home, his hospitality and great warmth. Tatiana played the piano after dinner and everyone sang. The judges later commented that this night was one of the highpoint of their trip.

On Friday morning, the judges attended a hearing calendar in Los Angeles County Superior Court for Judge Judy Chirlin, a well-known jurist. The calendar consisted of hearings in civil cases involving a number of business disputes, and lasted an hour and a half. Thereafter, Judge Chirlin met with the them in her chambers, and discussed her travels and teaching and various places in Russia. In fact, it turned out that she had traveled many more places in Russia than any of the Russian judges themselves.

After the meeting with Judge Chirlin, the Russians returned with Judge Bufford to the Federal Courthouse for a final wrap up meeting. Thereafter, the Russians went to the Beverly Center for an afternoon of shopping. On Friday evening the group had a special treat by sitting in a skybox belonging to a local lawyer for a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons in a at the new Los Angeles Staples Center.

On Saturday, the delegation returned to Russia – after a busy and successful visit.