Rossotrudnichestvo

Rossotrudnichestvo ; Россотрудничество
legal form	Government agency
founding	1925
founder	Dmitri Anatolyevich Medvedev
Seat	Moscow , Russia
main emphasis	International cooperation
method	Cultural exchange
Action space	Worldwide
Website	rs.gov.ru

The Rossotrudnitschestvo ( Russian Россотрудничество ) is the federal agency for affairs of the CIS, for questions of citizens living abroad and for international humanitarian cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation . Its task is to promote knowledge of the Russian language abroad, to cultivate international cultural cooperation and to convey a comprehensive, up-to-date image of Russia. It is also supposed to represent the interests of the Russian government in the so-called “near abroad”, that is, in the former Soviet republics.

aims

The Federal Agency for Affairs of the CIS, for Issues of Citizens Living Abroad and for International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnitschestvo) aims to promote the Russian language and cultural cooperation in many countries through a worldwide network of state Russian centers . At the same time, Rossotrudnitschestvo is the Russian point of contact for the independent national friendship societies in these countries.

Since 2008, Rossotrudnitschestvo has been aggressively representing Moscow's interests abroad, especially in the former Soviet republics, thus bringing Rossotrudnitschestvo's goals closer to those of the internationally politically influential US Agency for International Development (USAID) .

activity

The agency is currently represented with 73 Russian centers in 62 countries worldwide. Including the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin and the Russian Cultural Institute in Vienna .

Educational offers

One focus of the Russian Centers is the promotion of the Russian language in the diaspora, which includes the implementation of language courses and exams, the development of teaching materials and the further training of Russian teachers.

Cultural cooperation

Another central task of the Russian Centers is cultural cooperation with other countries, for example in the fields of literature, music, theater, film, dance, exhibitions and translation. To this end, the Russian Centers organize programs on cultural and social issues in cooperation with partners in the host countries and make contributions to festivals. Authors, musicians and artists from Russia participate in the projects at the foreign institutes and promote the cultural dialogue between the Russian Federation and the world.

Mediation of an image of Russia

The third main objective of the Russian Centers is to convey a comprehensive, up-to-date image of Russia , including through Russian libraries and a wide range of print, audio and video publications.

In the Russian libraries pupils, students, scientists and teachers as well as Russian compatriots in the diaspora can find Russian-language books, audio books and magazines.

organization

In addition to branches in various areas of Russia such as Saint Petersburg , Volgograd , Novgorod , Omsk , Irkutsk , Novosibirsk , Khabarovsk , Krasnodar and Voronezh , Rossarubeschzentr has many Russian centers throughout the world .

Rossotrudnichestvo has had government agency status since 1994.

history

The Federal Agency for Affairs of the CIS, for Issues of Compatriots Living Abroad and for International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) was established by the President's Ukas № 1315 on September 6, 2008. She took over the activities of the Russian Center for International, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (Rossarubeschzentr) and previous organizations whose history dates back to 1925.

Name story

Rossotrudnitschestvo has an eventful history, which can be seen in several name changes:

1925 All Union Society for Cultural Relations with Abroad (VOKS)
1958 Association of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with the Peoples of Other Countries (SSOD) / Союз советских обществ дружбы с народами зарубежных стран (ССОД)
1992 Russian Agency for International Cooperation and Development (RAMS) / Российской ассоциации международного сотрудничества (РАМС)
1994 Russian Center for International, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (Rossarubeschzentr) / ( Росзарубежцентр )
2008 Federal Agency for CIS Affairs, for matters of Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) / Федеральное агентство по делам Содружества Независимых Государств, соотечественников, проживающих за рубежом, и по международному гуманитарному сотрудничеству (Россотрудничество)

management

Evgeny Primakov (grandson of the former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Evgeny Primakov ) has been the head of Rossotrudnichestvo since June 25, 2018 .

Among the previous leaders were: