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Cars 4 Rental Information on Russian Federation

General

Area: 17,075,400 sq km (6,592,850 sq miles).

Population: 144,800,000 (official estimate 2001).

Population Density: 8.5 per sq km.

Capital: Moscow. Population: 8,297,900 (1999).

GEOGRAPHY: The Russian Federation covers almost twice the area of the USA, and reaches from Moscow in the west over the Urals and the vast Siberian plains to the Sea of Okhotsk in the east. The border between European Russia and Siberia (Asia) is formed by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River and the Manych Depression. European Russia extends from the North Polar Sea across the Central Russian Uplands to the Black Sea, the Northern Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. Siberia stretches from the West Siberian Plain across the Central Siberian Plateau between Yenisey and Lena, including the Sayan, Yablonovy and Stanovoy ranges in the south to the East Siberian mountains between Lena and the Pacific coast including the Chukotskiy and Kamchatka peninsulas.

POPULATION FIGURES: The following republics are part of the Russian Federation. Population figures were drawn up in 1999.

Republic Area (sq km) Population (000’s) Capital
Adygheya 7600 449 Maikop
Altai 92,600 203 Gorno-Altaisk
Bashkortostan 143,600 4110 Ufa
Buryatia 351,300 1053 Ulan-Ude
Chechnyat* N/A 781 Grozny
Chuvashia 18,300 1362 Cheboksary
Daghestan 50,300 2120 Makhachkala
Ingushetia* N/A 317 Magas
Kabardino-Balkariya 12,500 786 Nalchik
Kalmykiya 75,900 316 Elista
Karachayevo-Cherkessiya 14,100 434 Cherkessk
Kareliya 172,400 771 Petrozavodsk
Khakassiya 61,900 581 Abakan
Komi 415,900 1151 Syktyvkar
Marii-El 23,200 761 Yoshkar-Ola
Mordoviya 26,200 937 Saransk
Northern Osetiya (Alaniya) 8000 663 Vladikavkaz
Sakha (Yakutiya) 3,103,200 1001 Yakutsk
Tatarstan 68,000 3784 Kazan
Tyva 170,500 311 Kyzyl
Udmurtiya 42,100 1633 Izhevsk
Note: *Until 1992, the territories of the Republic of Chechnya and the Ingush Republic were combined in the Chechen-Ingush autonomous republic (area 19,300 sq km).

Government: Republic since 1991. Head of Government: President Vladimir Putin since 2000.

Language: Russian. English, French or German are spoken by some people.

Religion: Mainly Christian with the Russian Orthodox Church being the largest Christian community. Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish minorities also exist.

TIME: The Russian Federation is divided into 11 time zones. Summer time is + 1 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October.
Kaliningrad: GMT + 2. Moscow, St Petersburg, Astrakhan: GMT + 3. Izhevsk and Samara: GMT + 4. Perm – Nizhnevartovsk: GMT + 5. Omsk and Novosibirsk: GMT + 6. Norilsk, Kyzyl: GMT + 7. Bratsk – Ulan Ude: GMT + 8. Chita, Yakutsk: GMT + 9. Khabarovsk, Vladivostok: GMT + 10. Magadan, Yuzhno Sakhalinsk: GMT + 11. Petropavlosk: GMT + 12.

Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz.

Communications:

Telephone

IDD is available. Country code: 7. When dialling the Russian Federation from abroad, the 0 of the area code must not be omitted. Outgoing international code: 810. Some Moscow hotels have telephone booths with IDD. For long-distance calls within the CIS, dial 8 then wait for the dial tone before proceeding with the call. Collect calls, calls placed using credit cards and calls from direct dial telephones in hotels can be extremely expensive. The emergency services can be reached as follows: fire – 01; police – 02; ambulance – 03. For enquiries regarding Moscow private telephone numbers, dial 09; for businesses, 927 0009. For national directory enquiries regarding the Russian Federation and the CIS, dial 927 0009.

Mobile telephone

GSM 900/1800 networks. Network operators include KB Impuls (website: www.beelinegsm.ru) and Mobile Telesystems (website: www.mts.ru). All major cities are covered by at least one operator. Handsets can be hired from some companies.

Fax

Services are available in numerous business centres and hotels, although the latter option is more expensive.

Internet

ISPs include Beeonline (website: www.beeonline.ru) and Russiaonline (website: www.online.ru). Public access is available in hotels in larger cities and in Internet cafes.

Telegram

These may be sent from hotels.

Post

Airmail to Western Europe takes over 10 days. There are postboxes and post offices in every hotel. Poste Restante facilities are available at the larger hotels. Inland surface mail is often slow. Post office hours: 0900-1900.

Press

The main dailies in the Russian Federation are Izvestiya and Komsomolskaya Pravda, both published in Moscow. Newspapers and magazines are published in some 25 languages. Multi-lingual editions of the Moscow News are available weekly. The Moscow Times and St Petersburg Times are published in English. There is also a daily Internet newspaper, Russia Today (website: www.russiatoday.com).

Radio: BBC World Service (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online.

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Money

Currency: Rouble (Rbl) = 100 kopeks. Notes are in denominations of Rbl1000, 500, 100, 50, 10 and 5. Coins are in denominations of Rbl5, 2 and 1. The Rouble was devalued by a factor of 1000 in January 1998. The old notes and coins remained legal tender until 2002, although their real value was 1000th of their face value.

Currency exchange: Foreign currency should only be exchanged at official bureaux and authorised banks, and all transactions must be recorded on the currency declaration form which is issued on arrival. It is wise to retain all exchange receipts. Bureaux de change are numerous and easy to locate. Large shops and hotels offer their own exchange facilities. US Dollars in pristine condition are the easiest currency to exchange. It is illegal to settle accounts in hard currency and to change money unofficially.

Credit & debit cards: Major European and international credit and debit cards, including American Express, Diners Club and Visa are accepted in the larger hotels and at foreign currency shops and restaurants, but cash (in Roubles) is preferred. Check with your credit or debit card company for details of merchant acceptability and other services that might be available.

Travellers cheques: Cash is preferred. To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travellers are advised to take travellers cheques in US Dollars.

Currency restrictions: The import and export of local currency is limited to Rbl40,000. The import of foreign currency is unlimited, subject to declaration. The export of foreign currency is limited to the amount declared on arrival. Foreign banknotes and coins must be exported within 2 months of arrival.

Exchange rate indicators
The following figures are included as a guide to the movements of the Rouble against Sterling and the US Dollar:

Date Aug ’03 Nov ’03 Feb ’04 May '04
£1.00= 48.37 49.73 51.93 51.72
$1.00= 30.36 29.74 28.53 28.96

Banking hours: Mon-Fri 0930-1730.

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Health

Special Precautions Certificate Required
Yellow Fever No No
Cholera No No
Typhoid and Polio 1 N/A
Malaria No N/A

1: Poliomyelitis occurs. Immunisation is advisable.

Food & drink: All water should be regarded as being a potential health risk. Water used for drinking, brushing teeth or making ice should have first been boiled or otherwise sterilised. Contaminated tap water contains a high prevalence of gastrointestinal infections. The water supply in St Petersburg especially has been linked to giardiasis. Milk is pasteurised and dairy products are safe for consumption. Only eat well-cooked meat and fish, preferably served hot. Pork, salad and mayonnaise may carry increased risk. Vegetables should be cooked and fruit peeled.

Other risks: Dysentery is common throughout the country. Hepatitis A occurs. Widespread outbreaks of diphtheria have been reported. Consult a doctor regarding inoculation before travelling to the Russian Federation. Tick-borne typhus has been reported from east and central Siberia. Tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease occur in forested areas throughout the Russian Federation. Vaccination is advisable. Outbreaks of Japanese encephalitis have been reported from the southeast. Leishmaniasis occurs in the south, and in 1999 an outbreak of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever occurred in the area north of Stravapol. Outbreaks of meningitis have been reported from Volgograd.
Rabies is present and increasing. For those at high risk, vaccination before arrival should be considered. If you are bitten, seek medical advice without delay. For more information consult the Health appendix.

Note: Visitors staying for more than 3 months must produce a certificate proving they are HIV-negative. The certification requirements are exacting and detailed; a medical examination may also be required. Foreign tests may be acceptable under certain conditions. Check details with the embassy.

Health care: The highly developed health service provides free medical treatment for all citizens. If a traveller becomes ill during a booked tour, emergency treatment is free, with small sums to be paid for medicines and hospital treatment. If a longer stay than originally planned becomes necessary because of the illness, the visitor has to pay for all further treatment. This can be very expensive; air evacuation can cost up to £80,000. All visitors are strongly advised to have full medical cover that includes medical evacuation. It is advisable to take a supply of medicines that are likely to be required (check first that they may be imported legally). A reciprocal health care agreement is in operation between the UK and the Russian Federation, allowing citizens to receive free treatment. Private medical care can be expensive.

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Climate

Northern & Central European Russia: The most varied climate; mildest areas are along the Baltic coast. Summer sunshine may be nine hours a day, but winters can be very cold. Siberia: Very cold winters, but summers can be pleasant, although they tend to be short and wet. There is considerable seasonal temperature variation. Southern European Russia: Winter is shorter than in the north. Steppes (in the southeast) have hot, dry summers and very cold winters. The north and northeastern Black Sea has mild winters, but heavy rainfall all the year round.

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Passport

Passport Required Visa Required Return Ticket Required
British Yes Yes No
Australian Yes Yes No
Canadian Yes Yes No
USA Yes Yes No
OtherEU Yes Yes No
Japanese Yes Yes No

PASSPORTS: Valid 10-year passport required by all.

Note: Whilst in the country, visitors must carry ID at all times. Rather than carry original documents, it is advisable to carry photocopies of passports and visas, which will facilitate replacement should either be stolen.

VISAS: Required by all except the following, provided arriving from their country of origin:
(a) nationals of CIS countries (except nationals of Georgia and Turkmenistan who do require visas); (b) nationals of Cuba for stays of up to 30 days;
(c) nationals of Mongolia, provided visiting for purposes of business and holding letter of invitation and return tickets, or travelling as tourists and holding prepaid hotel vouchers;
(d) transit passengers who are continuing their journey within 24 hours without leaving the transit area.

Types of visa and cost: Tourist, Business, Private and Transit visas: £30, if visa is processed in minimum 8 working days. (Processing within 3 to 5 days costs £60; next-day processing £80; same-day processing £90; processing within 1 hour £120.) Multiple-entry visa: £100, standard 6 working days processing. (Processing within 1 hour costs £150.)

Note: (a) Nationals of some countries may have to pay a consular fee in addition to the visa processing charges listed. Enquire at the Consulate or Consular section of Embassy for a list of nationals and prices. (b) Nationals of France under 18 years of age pay half of the applicable visa fees. (c) Transit visas are required by all except passengers remaining in the transit zone of Moscow Sheremetievo airport for less than 24 hours.

Validity: Dependent on purpose of trip. Transit visas are valid for up to 3 days. Tourist visas are valid for up to 1 month. Private visas are valid for up to 90 days.

Application to: Consulate (or Consular section at Embassy); see Contact Addresses section.

Application requirements: (a) Completed application form. (b) One recent passport-size photo stapled to upper right corner of application form. (c) Passport valid for at least 6 months after visa expires, with at least one blank page. (d) Fee, payable in cash only or postal orders for postal applications. (e) Postal applications must be accompanied by a large, pre-paid special delivery, self-addressed envelope. Tourist: (a)-(e) and, (f) original tourist voucher (exchange order) issued by an authorised travel company stating their reference number, passenger names, dates of entry and exit, confirmation of payment, full itinerary, places to be visited, means of transportation and confirmation in Russian language. The voucher should be stamped and signed by an authorised person. (g) A standard tourist confirmation of acceptance issued by Russian tourist company or hotel accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Russia, showing tourist reference number given by Russian Foreign Minister and names of applicants, full itinerary and dates of entry/exit. Private (for visiting relations or friends): (a)-(e) and, (f) Official original letter of invitation from Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Business: (a)-(e) and, (f) An official letter of invitation from company or organisation in the Russian Federation responsible for visit, certified by the local branch of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. (g) An introductory letter from applicant’s company stating purpose of visit, itinerary, dates of entry and exit, assuming financial responsibility for the visit and stating the companies to be visited. Transit: (a)-(d) and, (e) Original and copy of confirmed air ticket to and from the Russian Federation. Multiple-entry: (a)-(e) and, (f) Original invitation made through the local branch of the Russian Ministry of the Interior or telex from the Consular Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Note: (a) Those who are travelling in groups (standard package tours, coach tours, international competitions and cruises) should submit all documentation to the tour operator making the travel arrangements. For visits to relatives/friends in the CIS, enquire at the Consulate for details of application procedures. (b) All travellers staying in the Russian Federation for longer than 3 days must register their visas through their hotel or sponsor. Private visitors must register with local police on arrival. For travel to Tajikistan, your invitation should be confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan. (c) French nationals should also have their previous 3 months’ bank statements, medical insurance and a copy of their tickets. (d) German nationals and all other Schengen country nationals should have travel insurance valid in the Russian Federation. (e) Since February 2003, every foreign citizen is given a migration card free of charge when they cross the Russian border. They must fill in their personal data, terms, purpose of visit and prospective place of residence and present the card when applying for registration after 3 days. The migration cards must be handed back upon departure.

Working days required: 1 to 12, depending on type of visa. Postal applications take at least 8 to 12 days to process. Applications for visas may not be made earlier than 3 months before departure.

Exit visas: Exit visas are required by all passengers who want to leave the country and are normally issued together with the entry visa. If the exit permit has not yet been issued by the representative of the Russian Federation which issued the visa, aliens should obtain it at the latest 2 days prior to departure, from the Intourist Service Bureau in their hotel.

Temporary residence: Enquire at Embassy.

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