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Five Russian officials visiting Maryland and Rockville last week said they were impressed with how well American municipal government operates.

The delegates, from the Leningrad region of Russia, about 40 miles outside of St. Petersburg, visited for a week as part of the Open World Program and the Maryland Sister States Program.

In Russia, they are the equivalent of city managers.

After touring the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg, a Rockville water treatment plant in Potomac, and Richard Montgomery High School and the Gudelsky Center at Montgomery College in Rockville, all five agreed that their trip to Ocean City on Oct. 26 was the highlight of the visit.

On Oct. 27, the delegates began touring state, county and city facilities and meeting with officials who briefed them on the ins and outs of governing in Maryland.

The five delegates were Vladimir Dernov, head of the Tosno Provincial District Administration; German Tereshkin, head of the Vyritskoe Town Administration; Marina Timofeeva, head of the Vyndinoostrovskiy Rural Settlement Administration; Konstantin Polnov, head of the Tikhvin Town Administration; and Aleksey Koltzov, head of the Kirovskiy Town Administration.

"We understand there are difficulties with how we govern," Polnov said through a translator. "But the problems and how you deal with those problems is very interesting."

Each delegate was impressed with a different aspect of life and government in Maryland.

Dernov said he enjoyed seeing the recycling center, which the group visited on Friday morning, and Polnov was impressed with how clean Annapolis is after visiting the State House and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Thursday.

Koltzov said at first he was surprised to see rich people and poor people living in the same areas.

"Class distinctions are more obvious in Russia," he said through a translator. "Here it is very mixed."

Tereshkin, not using a translator, said he was impressed with how many parks, ball fields and recreation facilities he saw.

"There are a lot of places for sport," he said. "It is very good for youths."

The delegation was then briefed by Rockville City Manager Scott Ullery and they discussed the budget system.

The city's Department of Recreation and Parks budget, just over $20 million, is more than the budgets for any of the delegate's cities.

Rockville Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann was among the leaders who met with the delegation.

"They were quite engaged," Hoffmann said. "They were very interested in the distinctions between municipal, county and state, and of course federal government."

Hoffmann said she gave a presentation on the environmental efforts Rockville is taking to "go green," and the delegates were impressed that Rockville has its own water treatment plant.

"I got the sense that they were rather impressed with how well we got along," she said.

Polnov said he also was impressed by how well the prisoners at the correctional facility are treated.

"They are treated still as human beings," he said through a translator. "I was impressed also with the rehabilitation the prison provides so the people can go back to life."