Rossotrudnichestvo
Federal government agency of Russia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation[a] or Rossotrudnichestvo is an autonomous Russian federal government agency under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and cultural exchange. Rossotrudnichestvo operates in Central Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe (but mostly in the Commonwealth of Independent States).
- Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States
- Vozdvizhenka Street 18/9
Moscow
- Igor Chaika, Head
| Федеральное агентство по делам Содружества Независимых Государств, соотечественников, проживающих за рубежом, и по международному гуманитарному сотрудничеству (Россотрудничество) | |
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 Seat of the agency at Shakhovsky Manor | |
| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | September 6, 2008 |
Preceding agency |
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| Headquarters |
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Agency executive |
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Parent agency | Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Website | rs |
History
The agency was created from its predecessor agency by Presidential decree, signed by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on 6 September 2008, with the aim of maintaining Russia's influence in the Commonwealth of Independent States, and to foster friendly ties for the advancement of Russia's political and economic interests in foreign states.[1]
Apparently from an investigation by the Alexey Navalny associated website (navalny.com), Ekaterina Solotsinskaya,[b] who was Dmitry Peskov's second ex-wife, was fired in February 2018 as the head of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Paris (RCSC) or (RTsNK) (Russian: Российский центр науки и культуры в Париже (РЦНК)), which is under the auspices of Rossotrudnichestvo in France.[7][9][10]
According to OECD estimates, 2019 official development assistance from Russia increased to US$1.2 billion.[11]
Rossotrudnichestvo was assessed by expert observers[c] to be organising and orchestrating synchronous pro-Russian public rallies, demonstrations, and vehicle convoys across Europe in April 2022 in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Demonstrations were held simultaneously in Dublin (Ireland), Berlin, Hanover, Frankfurt (Germany), Limassol (Cyprus), and Athens (Greece).[12]
Sanctions
In July 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions on Rossotrudnichestvo in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[13]
See also
Notes
- Ekaterina Vladimirovna Solotsinskaya (Russian: Екатерина Владимировна Солоцинская born 1976) was Dmitry Peskov's former wife of 20 years until their 2014 divorce. She is the daughter of Vladimir Dmitrievich Solotsinsky (Russian: Владимир Дмитриевич Солоцинский; born 25 September 1948), who graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1970, entered the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1973 and later the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is fluent in English and Turkish and was the former Russian Ambassador to North Macedonia from 8 June 2006 to 17 November 2010. She grew up in Ankara where her father was stationed and is where she, at 14 years old, met Peskov. Peskov, similar to her father, is fluent in Turkish and was a Russian-Turkish translator. She graduated from Institute of Asian and African Countries (IAAS) (Russian: ИСАА) at 18 years old and married Peskov. They moved to Moscow where she studied at the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University. After her graduation at MSU, she and her husband returned to Ankara where he was stationed as a diplomat and lived there for four years. When Yeltsin visited Istanbul, Katya's father Vladimir Solotsinsky recommended for Yeltsin's Russian-Turkish translator Solotsinsky's son-in-law Dmitry Peskov, who allegedly was the best Turkish-Russian translator on Russian Embassy's staff. Katya was a teacher. Later, Alexei Gromov invited Peskov to work in the Kremlin and on 31 December 1999, Dmitry was asked to be the head of the department. According to Katya, "He says: "Let's go?" and I can't do this, my students are in the middle of the school year." In June 2000, she and Peskov joined Putin's staff in Moscow. When she publicly admitted in August 2014 that she and Dmitry Peskov were divorced, she lived in France and their daughter Elizaveta "Liza" Peskova (born 1998), who had studied at the École des Roches in Verneuil-sur-Avre, which is the oldest private college in Normandy and was founded by Golitsyn princes, had graduated from school, their middle child Mika Peskov (born 2004 or 2005) was 10 years old, and their youngest child Denis Peskov (born 2008 or 2009) was six. From June 2017 until February 2018, she headed the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Paris (RCSC) or (RTsNK) (Russian: Российский центр науки и культуры в Париже (РЦНК)), which is called Rossotrudnichestvo in France. After Putin's trip to France in May 2017, she replaced Igor Shpynov (Russian: Игорь Шпынов) who had headed (RCSC) or (RTsNK) for many years, was known as a man of the old formation - intelligent and erudite, and allegedly was friends with Mireille Mathieu.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
- Ben Noble, associate professor of Russian politics at University College London; Mark Galeotti, an analyst and Russia specialist; and Sam Ramani, an international relations expert at Oxford University provided evaluations to The Times newspaper.[12]