Vehicle registration plates of Russia

Vehicle registration plates are the mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, and have existed in Russia for many decades. Most motor vehicles which are used on public roads are required by law to display them. Having a number plate obstructed by snow, mud, paper, or any other tool that makes any of the digits and letters illegible is considered an administrative offense and results in a fine.

Russian private vehicle registration plate.
Registration plate for vehicles which have non-standard plate size (GOST R 50577-2018 Type 1A), 290 mm (11 in)x170 mm (6.7 in) (introduced in 2019).

History edit

Current plate format edit

 
 
Country code on the bottom right.

The current format uses a letter followed by 3 digits and two more letters. To improve legibility of the numbers for Russian cars abroad, only a small subset of Cyrillic characters that look like Latin characters are used (12 letters: А, В, Е, К, М, Н, О, Р, С, Т, У, Х), additionally D was issued on some very early plates.[1] Finally, the region number (77, 97, 99, 177, 197, 199, 777, 797 and 799 for Moscow; 78, 98, 178, and 198 for Saint Petersburg, etc.) and the international code RUS with the Russian flag typically to the right of it, however the flag is not mandatory, and since 2013 owners may order plates without it. [2]

There is a different format for trailers (2 letters and 4 digits). Motorcycles, mopeds and scooters plates are made of square reflective plates and its format is 4 digits at the top and two letters at the bottom. These plates lack a national flag.

The standard size for the license plate is 520 mm by 112 mm.

Vehicles used by certain organisations or categories of persons carry special plates:

Image Description
  Police forces have special numbers on blue colored plates and the format is one letter and four digits. The letter signifies the branch of the police force, and its meaning may change from city to city; for example, in Moscow, A #### 99 rus stands for traffic police, У #### 99 rus for patrol cars, O #### 99 rus for police guard dog service etc.
  Diplomatic cars have white characters on a red background. The first three digits on the plate are a code identifying the embassy to which they belong, assigned in order based on the date at which that country established diplomatic relations with Russia or the Soviet Union. For example, the United Kingdom is 001, the United States is 004, and South Sudan is 168. Numbers 500 and above identify international organizations, such as 505 for IMF. On ambassadors' cars this code is followed by CD and a digit (004 CD 1 77 rus), while cars assigned to rank-and-file diplomats have this code followed by D and three digits (for example, 004 D 108 77 rus). The lacking diplomatic status administrative and technical staff of embassies, consulates or international organizations have license plate format (004 T 001 77 rus).
  The military license plates have white characters on a black background and the format is NNNN LL for vehicles and LL NNNN for trailers. In this case the two digits on the right are not a regional code but a code for the military district, armed forces branch or service, or federal executive body where military service is required by law. For example, NNNN LL 14 rus is a vehicle belonging to the Railway Troops, NNNN LL 18 rus denotes the Ministry of Emergency Situations, NNNN LL 23 rus is for the Strategic Missile Troops, NNNN LL 21 rus for the Southern Military District etc. Unlike all other categories, the military number plates are not light reflective.[3]
  Public transport vehicles (such as buses, licensed taxis and licensed share taxis) have black characters on a yellow background and the format is LL NNN. Since such vehicles are relatively few, the region code does not change often; in Moscow, for example, yellow "public transport" plates are still issued with the code 77 in December 2009. (Note: This type is not to be confused with the now defunct similar-looking yellow license plates having the format LL NNN L, which were issued prior to 2002 to cars registered to foreign companies operating in Russia; the latter type has now been withdrawn.)
  Trailer plates have colors very similar to normal passenger vehicles, but have format LL NNNN. Until July 2008, these plates had to be duplicated on the rear surface of the trailer, in a large print.
  Temporary and transit licence plates. Made from glossy laminated paper with holographic sticker in the upper left corner.
  Temporary and transit licence plates for exported vehicles with Т digit in left part of plate.
   Motorcycle registration plates. From 2019 updated standard introduced reduced size plates 190 mm (7.5 in)x145 mm (5.7 in) (with Russian national flag on it).

Special plates in the above categories never carry the Russian flag, except for trailers.

There are special series (usually numbers starting with A) reserved for government officials (for example, A 001 AA usually belongs to the governor of the region). The license plates for federal government officials originally had a larger flag instead of the regional code but this type has now been withdrawn as well.

Rich businessmen, prominent politicians and crime lords often use para-legally acquired special licence plates (government or police) to get preferential treatment from the transport police and as a status symbol. Often, this is used in conjunction with a flashing siren. The Society of Blue Buckets is a protest movement that opposes this trend.[4]

As of 2014, there are new codes for Russian plates in occupied territories; number 82 for the Republic of Crimea and 92 for Sevastopol. The Russian Federation annexed Crimea from Ukraine and now administers it as two federal subjects: the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. Ukraine, backed by most of the international community, refuses to accept the annexation and continues to assert its right over the peninsula. Vehicles with such plates may have difficulty entering countries which recognize Crimea as Ukrainian territory and thus deem documents issued by the Russian Federation in Crimea to be invalid.[citation needed]

After the February 2022 escalation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia issued plates for its conquests in Ukraine's Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. It also began to issue plates numbered 188 in Kupiansk for Kharkiv oblast,[5] but its forces were pushed out of the oblast's territory during the Kharkiv counteroffensive in the fall of 2022.

Runout problem edit

As per GOST provision, only 1,726,272 combinations may be issued within one administration unit (the digits 000 are not allowed). In certain regions, the number of vehicles exceeds that number. Additionally, previous combinations cannot be reused after a vehicle has been de-registered. This scheme creates an issue where the number of possible license plate combinations cannot meet the demand of the number of vehicle registrations.

A short-term solution saw the introduction of additional codes for regions that suffered from this problem. Thus, some regions have two or three codes issued to them, the city of St. Petersburg has four, Moscow Oblast has six, and the federal city of Moscow has ten codes. But this does not fully solve the problem, as the authorities may eventually run out of three-numeral regional codes, and a fourth digit will not fit without changing the standardised layout of the plate.[citation needed] Since October 2013, when a vehicle is registered to a new owner, the registration plate could remain on the vehicle and a new registration number is not required, even if the vehicle is registered in another region.

The problem was resolved by re-registering plates that are no longer in use. Also, since 2013, the owner can keep the license plate for himself personally, or leave it on the car when selling it to another person.

Regional codes edit

 
Russian regional vehicle registration codes

The license plate regional codes from 01 to 89 originally matched the numerical order of the federal subjects of Russia as listed in the Article 65 of the Constitution of Russia at the moment of the creation of the standard. In the following years some codes were reassigned or discontinued (for example code number 20 for the Chechen Republic: to prevent illegal registrations, and due to the destruction of the database in the 1990s, all the vehicles of Chechnya were reregistered). As the populous regions started running out of license plate combinations, new codes past code 89 were assigned to them as well. Additional triple-digit codes were created by prepending a "1", "2", "7", or "9" to the existing regional code (e.g. 54 and 154 for Novosibirsk Oblast, or 16, 116 and 716 in Tatarstan).[6] Those regions with an asterisk (*) beside them were involved in mergers with other regions, so are no longer issued, and have their codes listed with an asterisk with the region they are now a part of.

 
A car with its registration plate from Saint Petersburg.

In June 2014, code 82 (formerly registered to the Koryak Autonomous District) was put back into registration for the Republic of Crimea, while Sevastopol adopted the new code 92. The reason for the decision to use code 82 was because, between the beginning of this plate format and the merging of the district, Koryak AO only registered 1,548 civilian car license plates (starting at A001AA/82 and ending at B549AA/82) and far less of other types (some types, such as public transport plates, were never issued in the region).

Code The region of Russian Federation
01 Republic of Adygea
02, 102, 702 Republic of Bashkortostan
03 Republic of Buryatia
04 Altai Republic
05 Republic of Dagestan
06 Republic of Ingushetia
07 Kabardino-Balkar Republic
08 Republic of Kalmykia
09 Karachay-Cherkess Republic
10 Republic of Karelia
11 Komi Republic
12 Mari El Republic
13, 113 Republic of Mordovia
14 Sakha Republic
15 Republic of North Ossetia–Alania
16, 116, 716 Republic of Tatarstan
17 Tuva Republic
18 Udmurt Republic
19 Republic of Khakassia
(20), 95 Chechen Republic
21, 121 Chuvash Republic
22, 122 Altai Krai
23, 93, 123, 193 Krasnodar Krai
24, 84*, 88*, 124 Krasnoyarsk Krai
25, 125 Primorsky Krai
26, 126 Stavropol Krai
27 Khabarovsk Krai
28 Amur Oblast
29 Arkhangelsk Oblast
30 Astrakhan Oblast
31 Belgorod Oblast
32 Bryansk Oblast
33 Vladimir Oblast
34, 134 Volgograd Oblast
35 Vologda Oblast
36, 136 Voronezh Oblast
37 Ivanovo Oblast
38, 85*, 138 Irkutsk Oblast
39, 91 Kaliningrad Oblast
40 Kaluga Oblast
41, 82* Kamchatka Krai
42, 142 Kemerovo Oblast
43 Kirov Oblast
44 Kostroma Oblast
45 Kurgan Oblast
46 Kursk Oblast
47, 147 Leningrad Oblast
48 Lipetsk Oblast
49 Magadan Oblast
50, 90, 150, 190, 750, 790 Moscow Oblast
51 Murmansk Oblast
52, 152, 252 Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
53 Novgorod Oblast
54, 154 Novosibirsk Oblast
55, 155 Omsk Oblast
56, 156 Orenburg Oblast
57 Oryol Oblast
58 Penza Oblast
59, 81*, 159 Perm Krai
60 Pskov Oblast
61, 161, 761 Rostov Oblast
62 Ryazan Oblast
63, 163, 763 Samara Oblast
64, 164 Saratov Oblast
65 Sakhalin Oblast
66, 96, 196 Sverdlovsk Oblast
67 Smolensk Oblast
68 Tambov Oblast
69 Tver Oblast
70 Tomsk Oblast
71 Tula Oblast
72, 172 Tyumen Oblast
73, 173 Ulyanovsk Oblast
74, 174, 774 Chelyabinsk Oblast
75, 80* Zabaykalsky Krai
76 Yaroslavl Oblast
77, 97, 99, 177, 197, 199, 777, 797, 799, 977 Moscow
78, 98, 178, 198 St. Petersburg
79 Jewish Autonomous Oblast
80, 180* Donetsk People's Republic (occupied Ukraine)
81, 181* Luhansk People's Republic (occupied Ukraine)
82 Republic of Crimea (occupied Ukraine)
83 Nenets Autonomous Okrug
84, 184* Kherson Oblast (occupied Ukraine)
85, 185* Zaporizhzhia Oblast (occupied Ukraine)
86, 186 Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
87 Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
88* Evenk Autonomous Okrug (1993-2006)
89 Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
92 Sevastopol (occupied Ukraine)
94 Territories outside of the Russian Federation, served by the bodies of internal affairs of the Russian Federation, such as Baikonur
95 Chechenya
Internationally disputed areas in italics

Codes of diplomatic representative offices and international organizations edit

 
014 is the code for Norwegian diplomats in Russia
 
Diplomatic vehicle of the Finnish embassy in Moscow (as evidenced by the 069 number code).

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Order 282 from March 28, 2002.[7]

Code Country or organization
001   United Kingdom
002   Germany
003   Canada
004   United States
005   Japan
006   Spain
007   France
008   Belgium
009   Greece
010   Denmark
011   Italy
012   Luxembourg
013   Netherlands
014   Norway
015   Turkey
016   Australia
017   Austria
018   Algeria
019   Egypt
020   Rwanda
021   Argentina
022   Afghanistan
023   Myanmar
024   Bolivia
025   Brazil
026   Burundi
027   Ghana
028   Bangladesh
029   Guinea
030   Zambia
031   Peru
032   India
033   Indonesia
034   Jordan
035   Iraq
036   Iran
037   Ireland
038   Iceland
039   Cambodia
040   Kenya
041   Cyprus
042   Congo
043   Costa Rica
044   Kuwait
045   Laos
047   Lebanon
048   Libya
049   Mali
050   Morocco
051   Mexico
052     Nepal
053   Nigeria
054   Venezuela
055   New Zealand
056   Pakistan
057   Burkina Faso
058   Senegal
059 N/A[a]
060   Somalia
061   Sudan
062   Sierra Leone
063   Thailand
064   Tanzania
065   Tunisia
066   Uganda
067   Uruguay
068   Philippines
069   Finland
070   Sri Lanka
071   Chad
072    Switzerland
073   Sweden
074   Ecuador
075   Ethiopia
076   Angola
077   Democratic Republic of Congo
078   Colombia
079   Cameroon
080   Guinea-Bissau
081   Portugal
082   Bulgaria
083   Hungary
084 N/A
085 N/A
086   Poland
087   North Korea
088   Cuba
089   Mongolia
090   China
091   Romania
092 N/A[b]
093   Serbia
094   Benin
095   Gabon
096   Guyana
097   Mauritania
098   Madagascar
099   Malaysia
100   Niger
101   Singapore
102   Togo
103   Central African Republic
104   Jamaica
105   Yemen
106 N/A[c]
107   Palestine
108   Nicaragua
109   Mozambique
110   Equatorial Guinea
111   Sovereign Military Order of Malta[d]
112   Malta
113   Cape Verde
114 N/A
115   Zimbabwe
116   United Arab Emirates
117   Ivory Coast
118   Namibia
119 N/A[e]
120   Oman
121   Qatar
122 N/A[f]
123 N/A[g]
124   South Korea
125   Chile
126   Panama[h]
127   Israel
128   North Macedonia[i]
129   Albania
130 N/A[j]
131   Vatican City
132   Lithuania
133   Syria
134   Estonia
135   Latvia
136   Bahrain
137   South Africa
138   Armenia
139 N/A[k]
140   Saudi Arabia
141   Slovenia
142   Uzbekistan
143   Kyrgyzstan
144   Croatia
145   Azerbaijan
146   Ukraine
147   Moldova
148   Czech Republic
149   Slovakia
150   Belarus
151   Tajikistan
152   Turkmenistan
153   Kazakhstan
154   Guatemala
155   Bosnia and Herzegovina
156   Eritrea
157   Paraguay
158   Georgia
159   Brunei
160   Gambia
161   Vietnam
162   Mauritius
163   Dominican Republic
164   Montenegro
165   South Ossetia
166   Abkhazia
167   Djibouti
168   South Sudan
169   El Salvador
499   European Commission
500 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
501 N/A[l]
502 N/A[m]
503   Arab League
504 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
505 International Monetary Fund
506 International Organization for Migration
507   International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
508   International Committee of the Red Cross
509 International Finance Corporation
510   United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
511   United Nations
512   United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); code 126 used earlier.
514 International Bank for Economic Complementation
515 International Investment Bank
516 Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications
517 International Centre of Scientific and Technical Information
518 N/A[n]
520 International Labour Organization
521 N/A[o]
522 Coordination Centre of the Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation in Computing Machinery
523   Executive Committee of the CIS
524 European Space Agency
525 Eurasian Patent Organization
526 N/A[p]
527 N/A[q]
528   Interstate Bank
529 N/A[r]
530 International Research Institute of Management Problems
531   Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
532   Intergovernmental Statistical Committee of the CIS
533   Secretariate of Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly
534   Eurasian Development Bank
535   Intergovernmental Foundation for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS
555   Eurasian Economic Commission
556   Program Office of the Council of Europe in Russia
557   Antiterrorist Centre of the CIS member states
559 Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
900 Honorary consuls and offices headed by them

Notes edit

  1. ^ Code 059 is a former code for Syria. The current code for Syria is 133.
  2. ^ Code 092 is a former code for Czechoslovakia. Currently, codes for Czech Republic and Slovakia are 148 (Czech Republic), and 149 (Slovakia).
  3. ^ Code 106 is a former code for the Central African Republic. The current code for the Central African Republic is 103.
  4. ^ Earlier, code 111 belonged to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. Replaced by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
  5. ^ Code 119 is a former code for South Africa. The current code for South Africa is 137.
  6. ^ Code 122 is a former code for the Arab League. The current code for the Arab League is 503.
  7. ^ Code 123 is a former code for Liechtenstein.
  8. ^ Earlier, code 126 belonged to UNESCO. Replaced by Panama.
  9. ^ Earlier, code 128 belonged to the European Union. Replaced by North Macedonia.
  10. ^ Code 130 is a former code for the International Organizations.
  11. ^ Code 139 is a former code for Georgia. The current code Georgia is 158.
  12. ^ Code 501 is a former code for the Un International Centre.
  13. ^ Code 502 is a former code for the Eurocommision. The current code for this organization is 499.
  14. ^ Code 518 is a former code for the International Scientific and Technical Centre
  15. ^ Code 521 is a former code for the Interelectro (International Organization for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Electrical Industry)
  16. ^ Code 526 is a former code for the Taipei-Moscow Coordination Commission for Economic and Cultural Cooperation
  17. ^ Code 527 is a former code for the Headquarters for Coordination of Military Cooperation of the CIS
  18. ^ Code 529 is a former code of the Eurasian Economic Community (earlier - Integration Committee of the Eurasian Economic Community)

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Буква «D» на автомобильном номере в России – что это значит?". dzen.ru (in Russian). Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "Номер без флага: зачем он нужен и сколько стоит". autonews.ru (in Russian). Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  3. ^ "Russian plates information". Matriculasdelmundo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Elder, Miriam (May 28, 2010). "Moscow's limos halted by blue buckets". The Guardian. London.
  5. ^ "Жителям Харьковской области будут выдавать номера автомобилей с кодом 188". РБК (in Russian). August 26, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  6. ^ "Ministry of Internal Affairs Order 282 from March 28, 2002 - Приказ МВД России от 28.03.2002 N 282 (ред. от 22.12.2014) "О государственных регистрационных знаках транспортных средств"". Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  7. ^ "Приказ МВД России от 28.03.2002 N 282 (ред. от 22.12.2014) "О государственных регистрационных знаках транспортных средств"" [Russian MVD Order 282 of March 28, 2002] (in Russian). Moscow, Russia: Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. December 22, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2015.