Jamaica appears to be snubbing scholarship offers from the Russian Government to Jamaican students, passing up 15 such offers every year since 2003.

Russian ambassador to Jamaica, Victor Zotin, has expressed disappointment that the Jamaican government has stopped taking up his government’s offer for Jamaicans to pursue higher studies in Russia.

“I am not very much happy that the Jamaican side does not use our scholarships every year,” Zotin told the Sunday Observer.

Zotin said officials locally had expressed security concerns for students after a hostel fire at the People’s Friendship University in Moscow in 2003 left 40 international students dead and 57 injured, including two Jamaicans.

The Jamaicans, Lenworth McCalla and Patrick Craig, along with the other injured students, had reportedly jumped from the five-storey building to escape the blaze. Both were hospitalised and McCalla underwent surgery to reset his hip.

Since then, Zotin said, Jamaica has not taken up any of the 15 scholarships on offer each year.

Last week, the Corporate Management and Development arm of the Cabinet Office, which has responsibility for scholarships, said it could not comment on the matter until this week, since it would meet with the Russians last Friday.

After that meeting, which Zotin said his mission had initiated, the ambassador said the possibility existed that a delegation from the Russian education ministry would visit Jamaica for further discussions.

“I tried to convince them [Jamaican officials] that it was necessary to resume co-operation in this area,” Zotin said, adding that there are young Jamaicans who are interested in studying in Russia.

“It is well-known that the standard of education in our country is very high,” Zotin said, adding that there are Jamaicans studying in Russia currently.

Meanwhile, the ambassador said he was heartened by the positive response of the Corporate Development Management branch.