Russia – Maldivian relations
as of august 2018
Russian-Maldivian Relations
The diplomatic relations between the USSR and the Republic of Maldives were established on September 14, 1966. The Maldives officially recognized the Russian Federation as the successor state to the USSR on December 31, 1991. Male supported the accession of Moscow to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as an observer in 2003.
The Protocol on political consultations (between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs) was signed in March 2004. In September 2011 on the sidelines of the 66th UN GA in New York Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mr. M.Bogdanov had a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives H.E. Mr. A.Naseem.
Russia and the Maldives have established inter-parliamentary contacts. The delegation of the State Duma of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation headed by first deputy chair of committee on culture Mr. A.Tyagunov visited the Maldives in 2007. The delegation had meetings with Speaker of the People’s Majlis of the Republic of Maldives H.E. Mr A.Zahir and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives H.E Mr. A.Shaheed. In October 2017 Speaker of the People’s Majlis of the Republic of Maldives H.E. Mr. A.M.Mohamed visited Russia to participate in the 137th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, which took place in Saint Petersburg.
Moscow and Male are developing cooperation in the field of law enforcement. The Agreement on cooperation between the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Maldives was signed on November 6, 2014 during the official visit of Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Mr. Y.Chayka to Male. In March 2015 Prosecutor General of the Republic of Maldives Mr. M.Muhsin paid a reciprocal visit to Russia.
The trade turnover between Russia and the Republic of Maldives amounted to 480 thousand US dollars in 2017.
The Air Transport Agreement between Russia and the Maldives was signed in June 1995. Since October 2010 PJSC Aeroflot – Russian Airlines conducts regular flights on the route Moscow – Male (three times per week).
According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia almost 62 thousand Russian citizens visited the Maldives in 2017.
Since 1970s of the XX century the Russian Side has been assisting the Maldives in training of its specialists. Around 50 Maldivian citizens received their education in Russian universities, some of them hold decision-making positions in state bodies of the Republic of Maldives. 1 Russian Government scholarship was provided for the citizens of the Maldives for 2017-2018 academic year.
The kidnapping of Russian citizen R.Seleznev by American security services in the Male airport on July 5, 2014 inflicted certain damage on the Russian-Maldivian relations. The Maldivian Side assured Moscow that in the future no Russian citizen will be extradited to another state under a simplified procedure (i.e. without investigation).
Since 2000 Mr. A.Didi has been the Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in the Maldives.
There is no Russian Embassy at the territory of the Republic of Maldives. The interests of Russia are represented by Ambassador of Russia to Sri Lanka and concurrently to the Republic of Maldives H.E. Mr. Y.Materiy who resides in Colombo (Sri Lanka) at the following address: 404, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 07. Tel. +94112697036, fax +94112678401, e-mail: srilanka@mid.com, web-site: http://sri-lanka.mid.ru/.
