Belarus to open consulate general in Russia’s St. Petersburg

January 16, BPN. The Russian government approved the opening of the new Belarusian consulate general in St. Petersburg, says a directive published on the official legal information website of the Russian Federation.

In addition to St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, the new consulate’s area of responsibility includes Russia’s Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, Arkhangelsk, Vologda and Murmansk regions, and the Nenets Autonomous Area.

Russian government instructed St. Petersburg authorities to rent out or sell offices and living quarters to Belarusian diplomats as well as to allot land for construction, if necessary.

The Belarusian embassy in Russia currently operates an office in St. Petersburg.

Earlier, senior Belarusian diplomat Ihar Nazaruk said that Minsk also planned to replace the embassy offices with consulates general in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don and Yekaterinburg.

Russia currently operates two consulates general in Belarus. The consulate in Brest opened back in 1994, while the one in Hrodna opened in late 2022.