Russia, the World and

Russian-Thai relations

by H.E. Mr. Kirill Barsky,

Ambassador of the Russian Federation

to the Kingdom of Thailand

Plan

Amazing facts about Russia: land, people, culture, science,

education

State organization and political system

Economy

Foreign Policy

Russia-ASEAN

Russia-Thailand

Russia has about 477 000 km²

larger surface area than Pluto

Pluto

16,647,940 km²

The Russian Federation

17,125,200 km²

More than 10 hours flight to get from

Kaliningrad to Vladivostok

Russia has almost all climate zones of the

world and 9 time zones

Russia has borders with 18 countries

(60,000 km)

Russia is the only state in the world whose

territory contains 12 seas

Russia has thousands of rivers and inland bodies

of water, providing it with one of the world's

largest surface water resources

Its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of

the world's liquid fresh water

The largest and most prominent of Russia's

bodies of fresh water is Lake Baikal, the world's

deepest, purest, oldest and most capacious fresh

water lake

100,000 rivers, the Volga is the most famous, not

only because it is the longest river in Europe

The Siberian rivers Ob, Yenisey, Lena and Amur

are among the longest rivers in the world

Gas (№1 by world deposits, 24,4 % of the world

deposits)

Diamonds (№ 1 in the world production of

diamonds)

Coal (№ 2 by world deposits)

Nickel, Platinum (among top three countries)

Oil (№ 6 by world deposits)

Gold (№ 7 by world reserves)

Russia is the №1 exporter of wheat, rye, natural

gas, nuclear fuel, cast iron, rolled steel, jet fighters,

tanks and air defence weapons

Natural resource base

Siberia contains more than 25% of the

world’s forests

The Trans-Siberian Railway connecting

Moscow and Vladivostok, is the longest

railway in the world (9,300 km or 7 days

one way)

The length of all gas and oil pipelines in

Russia is 259,913 km which is 6 times

longer than equator

More interesting facts

Russia’s ethnic and religious diversity

► Russia is the ninth most populous country with over 146

million people

► Russia is a home to more than 170 different ethnic groups

and indigenous peoples. They speak 100 languages

► Majority are Orthodox Cristians, 15 million are Muslims

(10% of population), 1 million are Buddhists

Rus 8 - 9 centuries

The Russian Academy of Arts

was created in 1757

Famous Russian artists

Ilya Repin

Ivan Aivazovsky

Mikhail Vrubel

Ivan Shishkin

Morning in a Pine Forest (1889)Isaac Levitan

Birch Forest (1885-1889)

Victor Vasnetsov

Warriors (1898)

State Russian Museum,

Saint Petersburg

There are about 3000 museums

in Russia

The State Hermitage Museum,

Saint Petersburg

Catherine Palace and Park,

Saint Petersburg

Peterhof Grand Palace and Gardens in

St. Petersburg («Russian Versailles»)

Russian classical music

Mikhail Glinka

Alexander Dargomyzhsky

Modest Mussorgsky

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Alexander Borodin

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Igor Stravinsky

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Prokofiev

Dmitri Shostakovich

Russia is famous for its

Opera theatres

Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow

Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg

Russian ballet is

recognized as the best

in the world

Anna Pavlova

Vaslav Nijinsky

Maya Plisetskaya

Rudolf Nureyev

Mikhail Baryshnikov

«Katya and the Prince of

Siam» by the Ekaterinburg

Ballet and Opera Theatre

Bangkok, September 2017

Russian science and inventions For many years, Russia has been at the forefront of global scientific

thought and innovation, and some of the world’s most significantinventions have sprung from the minds of Russian scientists.

► In some instances, these inventions were not patented in Russia and were later

adapted by foreign inventors or used for commercial purposes abroad.

Exploration of Antarctic

Admiral FaddeyBellingshausen

Admiral Mikhail Lazarev

Russia is a pioneer in Space

1st satellite – 1957

1st man in space – 1961

1st woman in space – 1963

1st human outside spacecraft –

1965

17 space launches a year

All NASA astronauts must speak

Russian

Here are a few revolutionary Russian innovations

that have been integrated silently but distinctly

into modern life:

Anesthesia (Nikolay Pirogov, 1847)

Radio (Alexander Popov, 1885)

► Light bulb (Pavel Yablochkov, 1877)

Parachute (Gleb Kotelnikov , 1911)

Periodic table of elements (Dmitri Mendeleev, 1869)

Helicopter

(Igor Sikorsky, 1912)

► Track Assembly and Caterpillar tracks (Dmitry Zagryazhsky, 1837)

► Color photography (Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, early 20th century)

► Petrol Cracking and first industrial cracking unit

(Vladimir Shukhov, 1891)

► Television and telecasting (Vladimir Zworykin, 1923)

► Electric welding (Vasily Petrov, early 19th century)

► Automatic assault rifle (Vladimir Fedorov, 1913-1916)

► Synthetic rubber (Sergei Lebedev, 1910)

Kalashnikov:

The gun that changed the world

Education in Russia

►More than 900 universities

►The first place in the world on the number of

people with higher education

►4.5 million students

►300 thousand foreign students

►200 students from Thailand

MGIMO – the World record

university

The Guinness Book of World Records

acknowledged MGIMO for the most languages

taught – 53 actual languages

SPORTS IN RUSSIA

In February 2014, Russia’s largest southern

seaside resort – the city of Sochi - hosted

the country’s first Winter Olympic Games

2780 ATHLETES 88 COUNTRIES 98 EVENTS

The 2016 Summer Olympics

in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro

With 19 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze medals, Russia

finished the 4th in the standings, 56 Rio medals won in

total

The final part of the 21st FIFA

World Cup will be held in Russia

from June 14 to July 15, 2018

Russia becomes the host country of the World football championship

It is held in Eastern Europe

The mundial takes place in two continents jointly - Europe and Asia

The video assistant referee is going to be used

Interesting facts: the 2018

event will be the first time

when:

The championship is scheduled for 12 stadiums in

11 cities of Russia from Kaliningrad

to Ekaterinburg

The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia

32 teams will

take part in the

final tournament

of the World Cup

2018

The Russian

World Cup could

be the most

attended World

Cup of all time

Russia is a federal presidential republic. The Constitution

was adopted by national referendum on December 12,

1993 setting framework of the rule of law and the division

of powers.

The executive power is split between the President and

the Prime Minister, but the President is the dominant figure.

The legislature is represented by the Federal Assembly of

Russia. It has two chambers: the State Duma – the lower

house, and the Council of the Federation – the upper

house.

The judicial power is vested in courts. Courts are

independent.

State organization

President of the Russian Federation

Mr. Vladimir Putin

Prime Minister of

the Russian Federation

Mr. Dmitry Medvedev

2008-2012 – President

2012-current – Prime Minister

77 registered political parties

Communist Party (42)

A Just Russia (23)

Civic Platform (1)

United Russia (340)

Rodina (1)

Liberal Democratic Party (40)

Vacant (3)

Political system

Economy

GDP (PPP) – $3.9 TRLN.

(NO. 6 WORLD ECONOMY IN PPP)

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE – 4.9 %

INFLATION RATE – 4%

CURRENCY RESERVES – $425 BLN.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX – 0.8

OUTPUT IN BASIC SECTORS HAS GROWN BY

2.8 % AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION HAS

EXPANDED BY 1.5 %

Recent economic developments

Growth rate

2017 – 2 %

2018 – 2.5 %

Foreign Policy

Russia is a peaceful country with an

independent and multifaceted foreign policy

Russia is a reliable partner with no double

standards

Key principles:

Respect for norms and principles of International Law

Respect for interests of other states

Respect for territorial integrity

Respect for national sovereignty

Non-interference in domestic affairs

United Nations founding farther

Permanent member of the UN Security Council

Union State with Belarus

Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)

Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan,

Tadjikistan

Member of G20 and BRICS

Diplomatic relations with 189 countries, 144 diplomatic

missions in Moscow

At the forefront of the efforts to combatinternational terrorism

Regional organizations

Europe: OSCE, Council of Europe, Council of the Baltic Sea

States, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation

etc.

Asia-Pacific: APEC, EAS, SCO, ARF, ACD, CICA, ASEM etc.

Eurasia: Eurasian Economic Union, CIS, RIC (Russia, India,

China)

Russia and South-East Asia

Consulate in Singapore was opened in 1890, Consulate in Batavia

– in 1895.

Diplomatic relations with Siam were established in 1897

Support for the national liberation struggle :

Indonesia

Vietnam

Laos

Cambodia

Economic assistance after liberation:

Industry

Agriculture

Science and technology

Education

Russia-ASEAN Dialogue Partnership

Since July 1991 Russia was ASEAN’s consultations partner

In July 1996 Russia-ASEAN Dialogue Partnership

was established

3rd Russia – ASEAN Summit in Sochi

May 19 – 20, 2016

Sochi Declaration

Comprehensive Plan of Action for 2016 – 2020

Russia – ASEAN Business Forum

Objective – to upgrade Russia-ASEAN relations to a strategic

partnership level

Russia and ASEAN: prospects of cooperation

Security cooperation

Regional security architecture

Combating terrorism and organized crime

Combating Drug Trafficking

Cyber security

Trade and Investment Cooperation

Greater Eurasian Economic Partnership (EAEU, SCO, ASEAN)

Russia-ASEAN FTA

Energy, Agriculture, Disaster relief, Medicine & Biosecurity,

Education & HR development

120th Anniversary of the establishment of the

diplomatic relations between

Russia and Thailand

July 14-16 the Thai-Russian Festival under the theme «Sharing Our

Past, Forging Our Future»

On August 23-27 the «Russian week» was held at the National

Legislative Assembly of Thailand

On August 26-27 the Thai Fest 2017 in Moscow

On September 21 a large-scale exhibition in the National Legislative

Assembly of the Kingdom of Thailand

On October 4 Khon classical masked dance performance staged at the

Mariinsky Theatre in Russia's Saint Petersburg

Days of Moscow in Bangkok are planned to be held in December

The Post of Russia and Thailand Post

issued a jubilee stamp in June

Legal base of bilateral relations

Russia and Thailand have developed a substantive legal basis

for bilateral cooperation with numerous agreements and MoUs

specifying major fields of interaction:

17 G-to-G agreements and MoUs

25 interagency agreements and MoUs

9 B-to-B documents

Areas of cooperation: Trade, Science, Technology, Energy,

Culture, Tourism, Education, Natural resources,

Environment, Security

Major institutions

Joint Russian-Thai Commission on Bilateral Cooperation

Sub-Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation

Sub-Commission on Agricultural Cooperation

Joint Working Groups on Military Logistics Support, Security

Consultations, Tourism, Energy Cooperation, Banking and

Financial Cooperation

Russian-Thai Business Council (Chairman – Mr. Ivan Polyakov)

Thai-Russian Business Council (Chairman - Mr. KriengkraiThiennukul)

Thai-Russian Chamber of Commerce (Chairman - Dr. SombatThiratrakoolchai)

Russian-Thai trade turnover dynamics

Trade turnover in 2016 – 1,300 mln. USD

Trade turnover in 2017 (January – September, 2017) – 2,130 mln. USD (+64%)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

January - September 2016 January - September 2017

Major Thai investors

Leading agro-industrial holding company “Charoen Pokphand

Foods” (projects in Moscow, Kaluga and Kaliningrad regions;

1.5 bln. USD)

State-run oil and gas company “PTT Plc.” (long-term projects on

exploration, extraction and liquefaction of natural gas) etc.

Russia-Thailand tourism exchanges

Relations in the sphere of tourism are one of the most

fast growing areas of cooperation:

Tourist flow from Russia to Thailand increased by

24% (1 mln. people) in January-October 2017

Tourist flow from Thailand to Russia is constantly

increasing (by 60% this year). During the first half

of the year Russia welcomed 22 thousand Thais

82 flights from Russia to Thailand and back in a

week

Russia and Thailand: Towards Future

Strategic Partnership

During the official visit of H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha to

Russia in May 2016 the two sides agreed on the need to

upgrade the bilateral relations to a strategic partnership level.

Russia, the World and

Russian-Thai relations

by H.E. Mr. Kirill Barsky,

Ambassador of the Russian Federation

to the Kingdom of Thailand