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Large-scale events of archivists of the CIS countries in Moscow

Published: June 10, 2025

From June 3 to June 6, 2025, a number of events with the participation of archivists of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States took place in Moscow (Russian Federation).

On June 3, 2025, the XXI meeting of the Advisory Council of the heads of state archival services of the CIS member states was held.

The XXI meeting of the Advisory Council was attended by the heads and authorized employees of the state archival services of eight states: Deputy Head of the National Archival Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan G.A.Gasanov, Deputy Director of the National Archives of Armenia under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia A.M.Simonyan, Chairman of the Committee on Archives, Documentation and Book Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan R.Ali, Chairman of the Archival Service under the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic M.A.Alybaeva, Head of the Federal Archival Agency of Russia A.N.Artizov, Chairman of the Main Archival Administration under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan L.Sh.Sharifzoda, Director General of the Uzarchive Agency under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan U.M.Yusupov. The CIS Executive Committee was represented at the meeting by the Head of the Department of Scientific and Technical Cooperation and Innovation of the Department of Economic Cooperation T.T.Mansurov and the consultant of this department M.A.Kulagina.

The Republic of Belarus was represented at the Advisory Council by the Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus O.L.Voinov and the Director of the Belarusian Research Institute of Documentation and Archival Affairs A.E.Rybakov.

The meeting considered 8 issues, including organizational ones. The meeting participants considered the issues of «Events of archival institutions to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War», «Results of the preparation of the analytical review «On the state and development of archival affairs in the CIS member states in 2021-2023», «On the activities of the Advisory Council of the heads of state archival services of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2019-2023», heard information on the state of archival affairs in the CIS member states in 2024-2025, on the work of the basic organization for retraining and advanced training of personnel in archival science, documentation and documentation support for the management of the CIS member states.

O.L.Voinov presented reports-presentations «On the work of the archival industry of the Republic of Belarus in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025» and «On the events of archival institutions of the Republic of Belarus to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War». The first report focused on the implementation of the indicators of the subprogram «Archives of Belarus» of the State Program «Culture of Belarus for 2021-2025». Significant interest of the meeting participants was aroused by events aimed at strengthening the material and technical base of archival institutions of Belarus (construction of new archive buildings, reconstruction and major repairs of archival storage facilities, acquisition and modernization of specialized archival equipment). The participants’ attention was also drawn to the various forms of cultural and educational events held by Belarusian archivists, including those aimed at educating children and youth (the «Archives for School» campaign, amateur art competitions, quizzes, creative children’s works competitions, screening of archival video films in cinemas, etc.), and the preparation of thematic videos using artificial intelligence technologies.

In the second report, the most significant projects, both already implemented and ongoing, were presented to the colleagues, reflecting the key events of the Great Patriotic War and the partisan movement in Belarus. The Advisory Council members were particularly interested in joint publications within the framework of the «Library of the Union State» project («Operation Bagration. Partisans of the Belarusian Land..»., «Through the Ashes… The Road to May 1945» and «Marshals and Generals of Victory»), as well as projects jointly with Russian («Sons of Bashkortostan in the Battles for Belarus») and Kazakh colleagues («Born in War and Virgin Lands»). No less attention was attracted by the work of Belarusian archivists in creating documentaries dedicated to the history of the Great Patriotic War («Liberation», «Partisan Republic», «Operation Bagration», «Liberation and Revival of the Belarusian Capital», etc.).

The analysis of the reports presented at the meeting of the Advisory Council and the discussion that took place allows us to draw the following conclusions about the main trends and problems of archival affairs development in the CIS member states:

– the most important task of archival services remains the strengthening of the material and technical base of archival institutions, including the construction and reconstruction of buildings and premises for archival storage, the acquisition of specialized archival equipment. The solution of this problem in different countries is proceeding with varying degrees of intensity. For example, in Kazakhstan, based on the developed standard design and estimate documentation, 4 buildings of district archives were built and put into operation; in Kyrgyzstan, a number of buildings of territorial archives were put into operation, in 2025, it is planned to open a 6-storey archival complex in Bishkek; in Russia, an archival complex of the branch of the State Archives of the Russian Federation in Obninsk (Kaluga Region) was put into operation, which will also serve as a center for the storage of electronic documents (hereinafter – CESD); in Uzbekistan, 70 state archival institutions received new space for acquisition. Despite the measures taken, the shortage of archival space remains a significant problem in most countries;

– an urgent task for archival services is to improve the system of archival bodies and state archival institutions. Thus, in Armenia a draft government resolution has been prepared on merging the Film and Photo Document Archive with the Film Archive; in Russia, after the commissioning of a new building of the Russian State Film and Photo Document Archive, the film and photo document archives and sound documents have been merged; optimization of municipal archival institutions was carried out in Armenia and Kazakhstan, similar transformations are planned to be carried out in Russia in connection with the adoption of a new law on local government and self-government, according to which village and settlement councils are liquidated;

– an important factor determining the activities of archival services at the present stage is the introduction of digitalization in public administration and other spheres of public life. For archival services, it is important to develop unified information systems that ensure the reception, storage and use of electronic documents, the integration of information systems in which documents are created with information systems for the archival storage of documents. For example, in Kazakhstan, a draft law has been prepared on the creation of a new digital archive for storing various types of documentation; the development of a departmental system for the archival storage of documents is underway in Kyrgyzstan; in Russia, a system of remote access to archival documents has been developed, while access to the scientific reference apparatus is provided free of charge, access to documents, including those containing genealogical information, is on a paid basis (250 rubles per day, 90 rubles per hour); the exception is documents on the history of the Great Patriotic War, other socially significant documents, remote access to which is provided free of charge; – the development and improvement of the regulatory framework in the field of archival affairs and office work, including the introduction of electronic document management and archival storage of electronic documents, is relevant. Thus, in Azerbaijan, new Rules for the acceptance of electronic documents for permanent storage, their accounting and use have been developed; in Kyrgyzstan, a list of documents that are allowed to be created in electronic form without duplicating on paper has been developed; in Russia, the head of Rosarchive received the right to put the stamp «For official use only» on archival documents, as well as to remove it, in connection with which a list of information of limited distribution was developed and approved;

– an increase in the level of wages and, in general, social protection of archival workers is important. In addition to the Republic of Belarus, an increase in the salaries of archivists is noted in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan (by a government decision, up to 90% of extra-budgetary funds are allowed to be directed to pay archivists); in Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Culture and Information allocates 200 rental apartments for archivists with the right to subsequent privatization.

The relevant decisions were made on all issues on the agenda of the meeting of the Advisory Councils. In accordance with paragraph 3 of Chapter IV of the Regulation on the Advisory Council, the Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus O.L.Voinov was elected Chairman of the Advisory Council for the next period.

The venue for the next meeting of the Advisory Council is Minsk (Republic of Belarus). The preliminary date of the meeting is September 2026.

On June 4, 2025, the participants of the meeting of the Advisory Council got acquainted with the modern technological solutions used in the construction of the Mosarchiv archival complex of the Main Archival Administration of Moscow in the Voronovskoye settlement (New Moscow) and the archival complex of the branch of the State Archives of the Russian Federation in Obninsk (Kaluga Region).

The five-story Mosarchiv archival complex with an area of about 70 thousand square meters and a capacity of up to 100 million storage units is the largest state robotic archive with intelligent control in Russia (opened in July 2023). The robotic archive storage facility occupies 56 thousand square meters, which is 80% of the area of the entire complex. The archive storage facility consists of 14 robotic modules, each of which contains 38 thousand standard pallets for group storage of nine boxes. A stacker crane moves the pallet in the inter-rack channel. A robot manipulator selects a box on a pallet, loads it onto the box conveyor and back. The box conveyor delivers the box to the spiral conveyor and takes it from it. The latter moves boxes with documents across the floors. The use of a robotic system eliminates the need for physical human participation in the delivery and issuance of cases. For maximum safety of materials, an artificial microclimate with low oxygen content is maintained in the storage facility.

The construction of the complex will allow a large volume of archival documents of temporary storage to be moved to it from a huge number of premises of educational, healthcare, and state social protection institutions (currently, the storage facility occupancy rate is 15%). The complex can process over 2 thousand requests from citizens and organizations per day or 300 requests per hour.

The project was financed through the Moscow Targeted Investment Program.

The complex of buildings of the State Archives of the Russian Federation (GARF) in Obninsk is a modern repository of historical documents. Its total area is more than 55 thousand square meters, and the storage capacity is 12 million files in paper format and more than 80 petabytes in electronic format. The complex uses modern technologies, in particular, the technology of automatic delivery of documents from storage facilities to the archive reading room using the QR code system.

The complex allows for a full cycle of work with incoming documents, it has laboratories where documents will undergo acclimatization, disinfection, and, if necessary, restoration. The specified temperature, humidity and low oxygen content ensure fire safety of the premises.

The complex will also serve as a center for storing electronic documents (both those originally created in electronic form and digital copies of archival documents on traditional media). When designing and building the complex, Russian archivists abandoned the idea of creating a single data processing center. It is planned to store documents on optical discs using Blu-ray technology for recording. The disks will be stored on separate primary and backup servers, and will also be duplicated in a hidden server storage.

Currently, the archival complex is undergoing state examination for acceptance into operation.

On June 5-6, 2025, the International Scientific and Practical Conference «Real Virtual: Documentary Heritage in the Digital Age» was held.

The conference was organized by the Federal Archival Agency of Russia and the All-Russian Research Institute of Document Science and Archival Affairs (hereinafter referred to as VNIIDAD) with the support of the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan took part in the conference.

In total, more than 80 reports were presented at the conference. At the plenary session, the presentation report «Regulatory framework for the creation, circulation and storage of documents in electronic form: status, problems, prospects for improvement» was presented by the Director of BelNIIDAD A.E. Rybakov from the Republic of Belarus.

As part of the work of the sections, reports were made by Junior Researcher of the Documentation Department of BelNIIDAD A.A.Nedashkovskaya («Preservation of Electronic Documents of the National Archival Fund of the Republic of Belarus: Current Directions of Documentation and Archival Research»), Head of the Department of Automated Archival Technologies of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus M.N.Zhilinskaya («Culture of Memory in the Context of Digital Transformation: Creation and Use of Digital Copies of Documents on the History of the Great Patriotic War (Experience of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus in Creating and Filling the Internet Portal «Partisans of Belarus»), Intern Junior Researcher of the Archival Department of BelNIIDAD O.B.Guk («Problems of Determining the Originality and Copyability of Film, Photo, Audio, Video Documents on Electronic Media»). Young employees of BelNIIDAD and the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, who participated in the conference with the financial support of the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States, were also able to take part in a series of master classes conducted by leading experts in restoration, digitization, and exhibiting documents, introducing artificial intelligence into the activities of archives, libraries, and museums.

Based on the results of the conference, it can be concluded that the problems that need to be addressed in preserving documentary heritage in the digital age are similar for archival services of all countries. Solutions are required for problems related to the specifics of staffing archives with electronic documents, developing and improving relevant information systems, digitizing documentary heritage and providing remote access to it using modern information and communication technologies, ensuring the safety of electronic documents and digital copies of archival and library materials, regulatory and methodological support for this activity, restoration and conservation of unique and especially valuable documents on traditional media.

All events that took place were organized and conducted at a high level.

 

1. XXI meeting of the Advisory Council of the heads of state archival services of the CIS member states
2. The building of the Mosarchiv archival complex in the settlement of Voronovskoye (New Moscow)
3. Robotic system for delivery and issuance of files in the Mosarkhiv archival complex
4. Robotic system for delivery and issuance of files in the Mosarkhiv archival complex
5. Director of the GARF L.A.Rogovaya introduces the participants of the Advisory Council meeting to the GARF building complex in Obninsk
6. Director of the Department O.L.Voinov discusses the technology of automatic delivery of documents using the QR code system
7. Director of the Department O.L.Voinov gets acquainted with the COM system installed in the GARF laboratory
8. Director of the Department O.L.Voinov gets acquainted with the system for storing documents on optical discs (Blu-ray technology).
9. Group photo of the Advisory Council participants in the GARF premises in Obninsk
10. During the work of the International scientific and practical conference «Real virtual: documentary heritage in the digital age»
11. Director of BelNIIDAD A.E.Rybakov delivers a report at the plenary session of the conference
12. Directors of BelNIIDAD A.E.Rybakov, VNIIDAD P.A.Kyung and the Scientific and Technical Institute of Archival Science of the People’s Republic of China Wang Shanbai at the conference
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