21th International Balloon Meet

20 June 2016

On June 9–14 Velikiye Luki hosted the 21^th International Balloon Meet. For the third time Gazprom acted as the general sponsor of this annual event.

Nearly 50 balloon pilots from Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine came to the town of Velikiye Luki to take part in the Meet. They competed for winning several prizes, namely the International Cup of Friendship, golden medals of the Women’s Championship of Russia (national competition), the Cup of Russia (national competition), the Cup of Velikiye Luki (international competition among repeat participants) and the Cup of Princess Olga.

Sergey Vinogradov – Master of Sports, three-time winner of the Championship of Russia, holder of the 1^st Cup of Russia and the Cup of Velikiye Luki – flew a balloon carrying the Gazprom logo.

For the first time at the international competitions in Velikiye Luki the balloon pilots used loggers – special devices designed for collecting spatial and temporal data. These devices replaced specially trained observers and helped balloon pilots participating in the European and World Championships gain extra skills in operating them.

Gazprom’s Management Committee Chairman Alexey Miller sent a message to the Meet participants. Inter alia, Alexey Miller said:

“This year the 21^th International Balloon Meet coincides with another milestone date – on June 5, 1783 the Montgolfier brothers conducted the first flight on a hot-air balloon. 230 years later we are celebrating this remarkable date in a beautiful town of Velikiye Luki. Let this breathtaking competition become another contribution of Gazprom to the development of the national sports and a real treat to the locals.”

The 21^th International Balloon Meet was held under the auspices of the Russian Balloon Federation, the State Committee for Physical Education and Sports of the Pskov Region and the authorities of Velikiye Luki.