Mariupol State University plans to develop cooperation with the British Council in Ukraine. Perspective directions of cooperation were discussed during the meeting of the MSU management with the Simon Williams, director of the British Council, cultural attaché of the department of culture of the British Embassy and Sean Lohn, Ph.D. of Cambridge University, adviser to the Minister for Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced People of Ukraine.

Negotiations were conducted by Professor Kostyantyn Balabanov, Rector of Mariupol State University, Professor Mykola Trofymenko, Vice-Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Affairs (International Cooperation) and Professor Olena Pavlenko, dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages. They told their British partners about the active international activities of the university, participation in international programs, in particular Erasmus+, and cooperation with British higher educational institutions, such as the King’s College London and the University of East London. 

Mariupol State University fell under the spotlight of of the British Council as a participant of the Leadership Development Program of Ukrainian Universities. In 2016, MSU became one of the first 12 domestic universities involved in this project. The program was organized on the initiative of the British Council, the Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Foundation for Leadership for Higher Education (United Kingdom) with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. One of the tasks was to create a national network of «agents of change» – specialists who are ready to implement innovative changes in their educational institutions.

During the negotiations with the MSU management, the director of the British Council in Ukraine Simon Williams spoke about the educational programs that are being developed by the organization. The university will be interested in a language training program for English teachers and an internally mobility students program.

Visit of the British Council delegation ended with a sightseeing tour by the university. Foreign visitors attended international centers opened with the support of foreign partners of the University, such as: the Center for Baltic and Black Sea regional studies, the Window to America Center, the EU Information Center, the Italian Cultural Center, the Center for Ukrainian and Greek friendship and Hellenistic Studies, the Center for Polish Culture. They also went to the Museum of History and Archeology of MSU and the Library of Hellenistic Studies named after Konstyantynos Levendis.