RUSSIA – Russia’s president on Thursday appointed Mikhail Petrakov as the new ambassador to Australia.

Born in September 27, 1959, Petrakov has served as a diplomat since 1982.

From 1982 to 1986, he worked at the Soviet office in New Delhi.

From 1999-2001, he served as the head of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), division of the Directorate-General for European Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• From 2001-2003, he served as a Senior Adviser of the Russian Permanent Mission to the EU, Brussels.
• From 2003-2006, he served as the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Union.
• From 2006-2008, he served as Deputy Director of the First Department of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• From 2008-2012, he served as the Director of the First Department of the CIS at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• In February 2012, he was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to the Republic of South Africa. From April, same year to 2019, he was ambassador to Lesotho.
• In 2021, he was appointed as Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the Delimitation and Demarcation of the State Border of the Russian Federation with Neighboring States – Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as Georgia and the de facto republics of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.