WorldSkills Village welcomes WorldSkills Kazan 2019 regional and international volunteers

An official welcoming ceremony for the WorldSkills Kazan 2019 regional and international volunteers took place today at the WorldSkills Village. Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Rafis Burganov, Deputy Director General of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects Alexander Karpov, WorldSkills Village Mayor Ilnur Rakhimov, and Champions Trust Regional Representative for Europe, Jaqueline Tanzer, extended a warm welcome to the attending volunteers.

While opening the ceremony, the distinguished guests reminded those present how difficult it had been to form the final pool of volunteers out of 15,000 candidates from 90 countries and all Russian regions. Only 2,900 young people from Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan, 500 from other Russian regions, and 100 from abroad made it to the final team for WorldSkills Kazan 2019.

“As a volunteer, you’re making a commitment to share the most precious of resources – your time – to make this great event happen! Without you, WorldSkills simply couldn’t happen. Looking back at my own WorldSkills journey, I understand now more than ever what your support means. Thanks to you, every competitor here can have a life-changing experience,” said Jaqueline Tanzer from Austria, Champions Trust Regional Representative for Europe in her welcoming speech.

In total, volunteers will be involved in 33 functional areas and take 97 different positions spread across different skill and service areas (Transportation, Accreditation, Uniform, Catering, etc.). They will also assist national teams and provide support to residents and guests of Kazan at the information points around the city. Volunteers will be present at all Competition venues, including the Kazan Expo International Exhibition Centre, where 2,500 volunteers will work during competition days. Over 900 volunteers will take shifts at the Kazan Arena Stadium on the days of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. In addition, volunteers will be assisting guests and competitors at the WorldSkills Village, Main International Centre, airports, train stations, hotels, and other locations.

Deputy Director General of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects Alexander Karpov, who supervises the activities of the Volunteers Department, reminded the volunteers that in order to provide great service during the Competition, they must cooperate and support each other.

 “Volunteer work requires sound interaction within the team, and the involvement of international volunteers from so many countries provides a great opportunity to share experiences. Our task is to build an efficient and strong team that will do its best to ensure excellent delivery of the WorldSkills Kazan 2019, with the competitors, experts, visitors, and WorldSkills International representatives enjoying their time here,” noted Alexander Karpov.

WorldSkills Kazan 2019 volunteers have gone through four international internships at WSI events: the Competition Preparation Week and WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 in UAE, EuroSkills Gothenburg 2016 (Sweden), and EuroSkills Budapest 2018 (Hungary). All volunteers will undergo four mandatory training modules before starting their shifts.

The WorldSkills Village Mayor Ilnur Rakhimov wished the volunteers good luck in coping with their respective tasks.

“I welcome you in the WorldSkills Village, one of the best campuses in Russia. We are happy to provide accommodation to the volunteers of WorldSkills Kazan 2019, a milestone event for the Russian Federation. We have been eagerly waiting for you, and we will do everything in our power to make your stay at the Village a pleasant one,” said Ilnur Rakhimov, addressing the volunteers directly. “We hope that you will do your best to make the guests of the Competition feel welcomed at Kazan Expo, as well as in the city of Kazan, which most of them will be visiting for the first time. I want to thank you for your goodwill and I wish you success and good luck!”

WorldSkills Kazan 2019

WorldSkills Kazan 2019 will be held from August 22-27. Close to 1,300 competitors from 63 WorldSkills Member countries and regions will compete in 56 skills. This will be the largest international event in Russia in 2019.

Kazan was awarded the right to hold the event in 2015, after a vote of WorldSkills Members. WorldSkills Russia works in all 85 regions of the country and is one of the priority projects for the federal government in the field of personnel training and economic development.

Press Office of WorldSkills Kazan 2019 Competition Organizer