The new rector intends to make VSTU a leading technical university in the country

Vitebsk State Technological University is headed by Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences Andrey Kuznetsov. 

The new rector was introduced to the faculty and staff by the Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus, Mikhail Zhuravkov, who noted that Andrey Alexandrovich is well-known within the university staff. Before his appointment, he served as the head of the Department of Automation of Technological Processes and Production at VSTU for five years, and has been working at the university since 1993. Andrey Kuznetsov is a graduate of the A. Mozhaysky Military Space Academy; in 1992, he received a degree in "Radioelectronic Means." In 2007, he completed his doctoral studies at the Kosygin Moscow State Textile University and successfully defended his doctoral dissertation.

In his address to the new head, the minister outlined current issues relevant to the modern education system as a whole and higher education in particular, defined promising directions for the development of universities, and emphasized that being a university rector is an honorable, important, but very difficult job.

– Nobody knows this better than the legendary rector Valery Stepanovich Bashmetov. It is difficult to find a person in the education system who has served his university and our republic for so many years, – noted Mikhail Zhuravkov. 

He presented Valery Bashmetov, who had headed Vitebsk State Technological University for over 23 years, with the highest award of the Ministry of Education – a minister's commendation and a personalized gift – a watch.

In his welcoming speech as the head of the university, Andrey Kuznetsov expressed gratitude for the high appraisal of his work and the trust placed in him during his appointment. He also noted that Valery Bashmetov, having been at the helm of VSTU for many years, always maintained a course that allowed the university to develop, no matter how difficult it was. The new rector expressed hope for the support of the staff and assured that he would make every effort,

to make the educational institution a leader among the country's technical universities. "We will work!" – Andrey Alexandrovich briefly concluded his speech.

Natalia Kamleva. Photo by Anton Stepanishchev. "Vitebskiye vesti".