The conference held in the St.Petersburg museums from 17 to 21 December 2000, was organized by the Ministry of the Russian Federation and Administration of St.Petersburg together with the Union of Museum Workers of St.Petersburg and of the Leningrad region. About 500 directors of different museums participated in the conference that was the first event of this kind for the last 70 years. A number of the city museums were the sites for the meetings at which the most urgent problems of the museum development were discussed. The participants also visited museum exhibitions in the city and the suburbs and concerts in the Hermitage Theatre and Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoye Selo.

To sum up the results of the conference, the press-conference of Natalya Dementyeva, the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, and directors of the museums of Russia was held on 20 December, 2000.

Deputy Director Vladimir Matveyev speaking at the meeting in the Hermitage Theatre