List of ambassadors of Russia to Albania

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Albania is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the President and the Government of Albania.[1][2][3]

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Albania
Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Incumbent Mikhail Afanasyev since 16 September 2019
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Embassy of Russia in Tirana
Style	His Excellency The Honourable
Reports to	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Seat	Tirana
Appointer	President of Russia
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Website	Embassy of Russia in Tirana

The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Tirana.[4] The post of Russian Ambassador to Albania is currently held by Mikhail Afanasyev, incumbent since 16 September 2019.[5]

History of diplomatic relations

Attempts to establish diplomtic relations at the mission level between the Soviet Union and Albania began after the June Revolution in 1924 under the auspices of the Soviet ambassador to Greece Arkady Krakovetsky. Krakovetsky arrived in Tirana on 16 December 1924, but events overtook him when the Albanian government fell to armed forces that placed Ahmed Bey Zogu in power as president of the Albanian Republic.[6] Relations were finally established in September 1934, with the ambassador to Greece serving as non-resident representative to Albania, but were broken off in April 1939 after the Italian invasion and occupation of Albania.[6]

Diplomatic relations were resumed after the war, with the Soviet government recognising the Democratic Government of Albania on 10 November 1945, which after 1946 became the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.[6] The first Soviet envoy, Dmitry Chuvakhin, presented his credentials on 11 January 1946. After a period of relatively strong relations, disagreements between the Albanian and Soviet governments caused relations to deteriorate sharply in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[6] The Soviets withdrew their embassy in November 1961, and officially suspended diplomatic relations the following month.[6] Relations were only restored after a joint meeting in June-July 1990 between the Soviet and Albanian foreign ministries. The Soviet embassy in Tirana was reopened in February 1991, while the Albanian embassy in Moscow opened in April 1991.[6] With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet ambassador, Viktor Nerubaylo, continued as representative of the Russian Federation until 1996.[1]

List of representatives (1924 – present)

Representatives of the Soviet Union to Albania (1924 – 1991)

Name	Title	Appointment	Termination	Notes
Arkady Krakovetsky	Diplomatic representative	January	18 December 1924
Mikhail Kobetsky	Diplomatic representative (non-resident)	23 January 1935	28 April 1937
Nikolai Sharonov	Diplomatic representative (non-resident)	13 November 1937	7 April 1939
Dmitry Chuvakhin	Envoy	12 December 1945	16 March 1952
Kliment Lyovychkin	Envoy (before August 1953) Ambassador (after August 1953)	12 December 1945	7 December 1955
Leonid Krylov	Ambassador	7 December 1955	7 March 1957
Vasily Ivanov	Ambassador	7 March 1957	24 November 1960
Iosif Shikin	Ambassador	24 November 1960	21 January 1963	Withdrawn in November 1961
Viktor Nerubaylo	Ambassador	15 February 1991	25 December 1991

Representatives of the Russian Federation to Albania (1991 – present)

Name	Title	Appointment	Termination	Notes
Viktor Nerubaylo	Ambassador	25 December 1991	2 November 1996
Igor Saprykin	Ambassador	2 November 1996	26 July 2000
Vladimir Tokin	Ambassador	26 July 2000	26 August 2005
Alexander Prishchepov	Ambassador	26 August 2005	28 January 2010
Leonid Abramov	Ambassador	28 January 2010	10 July 2014
Aleksandr Karpushin	Ambassador	10 July 2014	16 September 2019
Mikhail Afanasyev	Ambassador	16 September 2019

References

1. "Archived copy" Албания (in Russian). Справочник по истории Коммунистической партии и Советского Союза 1898 - 1991. Archived from the original on 2014-11-05. Retrieved 2009-11-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Archived copy" Миссия - Посольство СССР в Албании (in Russian). Справочник по истории Коммунистической партии и Советского Союза 1898 - 1991. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-11-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. МПОСЛЫ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ В СТРАНАХ ЕВРОПЫ (in Russian). Worldwide Historical Project. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
4. "Посольство Российской Федерации в Албании" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 8 October 2019.
5. "Чрезвычайный и Полномочный Посол Российской Федерации в Албании" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 8 October 2019.
6. "Краткая история российско-албанских отношений" (in Russian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia). Retrieved 8 October 2019.