The year 2019 marked the 125th anniversaries of the foundation of the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR). It was a long way from the Bureau of Applied Botany to VIR, the world-famous institution for the systematic collection, comprehensive study, secure conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. The initiator of most research areas of VIR was the prominent botanist, geneticist and breeder N.I. Vavilov. A main feature of this institution has always been extensive cooperation with global, regional and international organizations, various research institutes and universities in many countries of the whole world. Although such cooperation has occurred in political circumstances that have seen drastic changes, and is now stretching over three centuries, the main objectives are the same and food security has always been the underling major motivation. The international activities that were started in plant genetic resources cooperation in Eastern Europe in the 1960s have often been overlooked in the widely accessible publications in English language. After the 1990s, the sphere of plant genetic resources became very political; this may be another reason why achievements that are due the major inspirations that came from N.I. Vavilov and impacted mostly the eastern European countries are sometimes overlooked. The purpose of the review is to give an account of some of these achievements, because several of the conceptual approaches remain valid for today and for the future.