Note
*Until 1992, the territories of the Republic of Chechnya and the Ingush Republic were combined in the Chechen-Ingush autonomous republic (area 19,300 sq km).
Government
Republic since 1991.
Head of Government: President Vladimir Putin since 2000.
Language
Russian. English, French or German are spoken by some people.
Religion
Mainly Christian with the Russian Orthodox Church being the largest Christian community. Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish minorities also exist.
TIME
The Russian Federation is divided into 11 time zones. Summer time is + 1 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October.
Kaliningrad: GMT + 2.
Moscow,
St Petersburg,
Astrakhan: GMT + 3.
Izhevsk and
Samara: GMT + 4.
Perm –
Nizhnevartovsk: GMT + 5.
Omsk and
Novosibirsk: GMT + 6.
Norilsk,
Kyzyl: GMT + 7.
Bratsk –
Ulan Ude: GMT + 8.
Chita,
Yakutsk: GMT + 9.
Khabarovsk,
Vladivostok: GMT + 10.
Magadan,
Yuzhno Sakhalinsk: GMT + 11.
Petropavlosk: GMT + 12.
Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz.
Communications
Telephone
IDD is available. Country code: 7. When dialing the Russian Federation from abroad, the 0 of the area code must
not be omitted. Outgoing international code: 810. Some Moscow hotels have telephone booths with IDD. For long-distance calls within the CIS, dial 8 then wait for the dial tone before proceeding with the call. Collect calls, calls placed using credit cards and calls from direct dial telephones in hotels can be extremely expensive. International calls can be made from phones in the street and phonecards are available from many shops and kiosks in the street. The emergency services can be reached as follows: fire – 01; police – 02; ambulance – 03. For enquiries regarding Moscow private telephone numbers, dial 09; for businesses, 927 0009. For national directory enquiries regarding the Russian Federation and the CIS, dial 927 0009.
Mobile telephone
GSM 900/1800 networks. Network operators include
KB Impuls (website:
www.beelinegsm.ru) and
Mobile Telesystems (website:
www.mts.ru). All major cities are covered by at least one operator. Handsets can be hired from some companies.
Fax
Services are available in numerous business centers and hotels, although the latter option is more expensive.
Internet
ISPs include
Beeonline (website:
www.beeonline.ru) and
Russiaonline (website:
www.online.ru). Public access is available in hotels in larger cities and in Internet cafes.
Telegram
These may be sent from hotels.
Post
Airmail to Western Europe takes over 10 days. There are postboxes and post offices in every hotel.
Poste Restante facilities are available at the larger hotels. Inland surface mail is often slow. Post office hours: 0900-1900.
Press
The main dailies in the Russian Federation are
Izvestiya and
Komsomolskaya Pravda, both published in Moscow. Newspapers and magazines are published in some 25 languages. Multilingual editions of the
Moscow News are available weekly. The
Moscow Times and
St Petersburg Times are published in English. There is also a daily Internet newspaper,
Russia Today (website:
www.russiatoday.com).
Radio
BBC World Service (website:
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website:
www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online.
Public Holidays
Jan 1-2 2005: New Year.
Jan 7: Russian Orthodox Christmas Day.
Mar 8: International Women’s Day.
May 1-2: Spring and Labor Day.
May 9: Victory in Europe Day.
Jun 12: Independence Day.
Nov 7: Day of Reconciliation and Consent.
Dec 12: Constitution Day.
Jan 1-2 2006: New Year.
Jan 7: Russian Orthodox Christmas Day.
Mar 8: International Women’s Day.
May 1-2: Spring and Labor Day.
May 9: Victory in Europe Day.
Jun 12: Independence Day.
Nov 7: Day of Reconciliation and Consent.
Dec 12: Constitution Day.
Special Events
The following is a selection of special events occurring in the Russian Federation in 2005:
Dec 25 2004-Jan 5:
Russian Winter, Irtutsk, Moscow, Novgorod, St Petersburg, Vladimr/Suzdal.
Jan 7:
Russian Orthodox Christmas.
Mar:
Spring Festival.
Mar 7-13:
Maslenitsa Festival, Moscow.
May:
Moscow Stars.
Jun 5:
Pushkin Festival, Pushkinskiye Gori.
Jun 17-26:
Moscow Film Festival.
Oct 8-16:
Kremlin Cup (tennis), Moscow.
Dec 25-Jan 5 2006:
Russian Winter, Irtutsk, Moscow, Novgorod, St Petersburg, Vladimr/Suzdal.
Contact Information:
Location
Eastern Europe/Asia.
Country dialing code
7. The 0 of the area code should not be omitted when dialing from abroad.
The State Committee on Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism
18 ul. Kazakova, 103064 Moscow, Russian Federation
Tel: (095) 263 0840. Fax: (095) 263 0761.
E-mail:
info@goskomsport.ru
Website:
www.goskomsport.ru
BSI
1 Lize Chaikinoky, Moscow, Russian Federation
Tel: (095) 785 5535. Fax: (095) 785 5536.
E-mail:
incoming@bsigroup.ru or incoming@russia-tourism.ru
Website:
www.russia-tourism.ru
This is a tourism agency that deals with the public.
Russian National Tourist Office
70 Piccadilly, London W1J 8HP, UK
Tel: (020) 7495 7555. Fax: (020) 7495 8555.
E-mail:
inntelmoscow@inntel-moscow.co.uk or info@visitrussia.org.uk
Website:
www.inntel-moscow.co.uk or www.visitrussia.org.uk
Embassy of the Russian Federation
13 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QX, UK
Tel: (020) 7229 2666. Fax: (020) 7229 5804.
E-mail:
office@rusemblon.org (press office).
Consular section: 5 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QS, UK
Tel: (020) 7229 8027. Fax: (020) 7229 3215.
E-mail:
info@rusemblon.org
Website:
www.rusemblon.org
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1200, 1400-1800.
Intourist Ltd.
7 Wellington Terrace, Notting Hill, London W2 4LW, UK
Tel: (020) 7727 4100
or (0870) 112 1232 (reservation line). Fax: (020) 7727 8090.
E-mail:
info@intourist.co.uk
Website:
www.intouristuk.com
Offices also in: Glasgow and Manchester.
British Embassy
Smolenskaya Naberezhnaya 10, Moscow 121099, Russian Federation
Tel: (095) 956 7200. Fax: (095) 956 7201
or 7440/1 (visa section)
or 7430 (press and public affairs).
E-mail:
moscow@britishembassy.ru
Website:
www.britemb.msk.ru
British Consulate General
Pl. Proletarskoy Diktatury 5, 191124 St Petersburg, Russian Federation
Tel: (812) 320 3200. Fax: (812) 320 3211.
E-mail:
bcgspb@peterlink.ru
Website:
www.britain.spb.ru
Consulate in: Ekatarinburg.
Honorary Consulates in: Novorossiisk and Vladivostok.
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
Tel: (202) 298 5700. Fax: (202) 298 5735.
E-mail:
russianembassy@mindspring.com
Website:
www.russianembassy.org
Consular section: 2641 Tunlaw Road, NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
Tel: (202) 939 8907. Fax: (202) 939 8917
or 483 7579.
Consulates General in: Houston, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.
Russian National Group
130 West 42nd Street, Suite 412, New York, NY 10036, USA
Tel: (212) 575 3431
or (877) 221 7120 (toll-free in USA). Fax: (212) 575 3434.
E-mail:
info@rnto.org
Website:
www.russia-travel.com
Represents the Russian National Tourist Office, Russian Association of Travel Agencies (RATA) and Russian National Olympic Committee.
Embassy of the United States of America
Novinskiy Bulvar 19/23, 121099 Moscow, Russian Federation
Tel: (095) 728 5000. Fax: (095) 728 5112 (administration)
or 5247 (consular section).
E-mail:
consulmo@state.gov
Website:
www.usembassy.ru
Consulate General of the United States of America
Furshtatskaya Ulista 15, 191028 St Petersburg, Russian Federation
Tel: (812) 331 2600. Fax: (812) 331 2852.
E-mail:
visastpete@state.gov or ircpeter@state.gov
Website:
www.stpetersburg-usconsulate.ru
Other Consulates in: Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg.
Embassy of the Russian Federation
285 Charlotte Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8L5, Canada
Tel: (613) 235 4341. Fax: (613) 236 6342.
E-mail:
rusemb@rogers.com
Website:
www.rusembcanada.mid.ru
Consular section: 52 Range Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8J5, Canada
Tel: (613) 236 7220/6215/0920. Fax: (613) 238 6158.
E-mail:
ruscons@rogers.com
Consulates in: Montréal and Toronto.
Canadian Embassy
Starokonyushenny Pereulok 23, 119202 Moscow, Russian Federation
Tel: (095) 105 6000
or 6070 (visa information line). Fax: (095) 105 6025
or 6090 (visa section).
E-mail:
mosco@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Website:
www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadaeuropa/russia
Canadian Consulate General
32 Malodetskoselsky Prospect, 190013 St Petersburg, Russian Federation
Tel: (812) 320 6515. Fax: (812) 320 6514.
E-mail:
spurg@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
