The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(russian: Генеральное консульство России в Ченнаи) represents the interests of the Russian government in the southern region of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The other missions are the Embassy of the Russian Federation in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

and the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. The current Consul General is Oleg N. Avdeev, incumbent since 12 September 2018. He succeeds Sergey L. Kotov.

History

The Chennai consulate was opened in 1947. The first contacts between Chennai and

Volgograd Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...

in the Russian Federation were established in 1967 when a document of friendship, solidarity and cultural co-operation was signed. In 2022, the consulate celebrated its 75 years of diplomatic relations with India.

Location

The Consulate General is located at 14 Santhome High Road,

Mylapore Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...

, near the Marina Beach. The Russian Cultural Centre, the Cultural Department of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Chennai, is located at 27, Kasturi Ranga Road,

Alwarpet Alwarpet is a residential zone in central Chennai and is a part of the greater Teynampet region. It is surrounded by Teynampet in the north and east, Mylapore, Mandavelli and Abhiramapuram in the east, Raja Annamalaipuram in the south, Na ...

Functions

The Russian Consulate in Chennai administrates the consular functions in the states of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, and the Union Territory of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

. As of 2009, the consulate handles around 10 to 15 percent of the total

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

applicants to Russia. Over 1,600 people applied for visas to Russia in 2008, an increase of nearly 7 percent from the previous year, a majority of which were business visas (36.9 percent), students visas and tourists visas. In December 2014, a new specialised Russian visa application centre was opened in the city at 74 Kasturi Ranga Road,

, along with three such centres in

, and

. As of 2020, the visa application centre functions at Ispahani Center, 123/124 Nugambakkam High Road,

Nungambakkam Nungambakkam is a locality in downtown Chennai, India. The neighborhood abounds with multi-national commercial establishments, important government offices, foreign consulates, educational institutions, shopping malls, sporting facilities, to ...

. The Consulate also functions as special polling station to help Russian nationals in South India, including tourists and residents, to cast their votes for Russian parliamentary polls.

List of consul generals

* Mikhail M. Mgeladze (2002–2006) * Vladislav V. Antonyuk (2006–2010) * Nikolay A. Listopadov (2010–May 2014) * Sergey L. Kotov (28 May 2014–September 2018) * Oleg N. Avdeev (12 September 2018–Date)

Russian Centre of Science and Culture

Russian Centre of Science and Culture (formerly known as ''House of Soviet Cultural Centre'') was established in 1972 to promote cultural relationship between peoples of India and Russia. Located at 74 Kasturi Ranga Road in

, the centre has an auditorium with seating capacity of 260 seats, an art gallery situated on the ground floor hosting various exhibitions of arts and paintings. The library consists of about 10,000 books, including a collection of Russian classical literature and rare translations of Russian authors, besides Russian newspapers and periodicals. In 2010, the Russian Centre of Science and Culture started Russian language training programmes for college students through video conferencing. Other functions of the centre include conducting Russian education fairs, cultural exhibitions, and screening Russian films.

References

External links

Official website of the Consulate General of Russia Chennai

Homepage of the Russian Cultural Centre in Chennai

Official website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Official website of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture, Chennai
{{Foreign relations of Russia Diplomatic missions in India

India–Russia relations

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Organisations based in Chennai Cultural centres in Chennai Year of establishment missing