"The work on this matter is ongoing since 1993 when we signed the agreements with the Chinese side regarding the opening what was supposed back then to be a department of Shenyang Consulate General in Harbin. I know that there is a candidate for the post of consul general, the core of the staff is being chosen… Our ambassador to Beijing, Andrei Denisov, has spoken about this, the date was also mentioned — 2018. Nobody has canceled the date so far," Paltov said.
Paltov noted that there were still a number of issues unsolved. The most important one is the reconstruction of the old building where consulate was located before it was closed in 1962. The Russian side insists on opening the Consulate General in this building since Russian diplomats used to work there, Paltov explained.
"The Chinese side has been reconstructing the building of our old consulate since the end of 2013, they have been working actively on it in 2014. However, a number of issues, particularly the ones regarding technical matters, have not been approved by the Russian side. We estimated many drawbacks regarding eleven issues, the Chinese side agreed and is redoing it," Paltov said.
According to Paltov, before the building may be used by Russian diplomats it has to be checked and approved by specialists from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Pavlov noted that another obstacle to opening the consulate may be the lack of sinologists in the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian Consulate General in Harbin has a long history. First, it was opened in 1907 in times of the Russian Empire. Chinese authorities closed it in 1920. In 1924, it was reopened in another building as the Consulate General of the Soviet Union, but closed again in 1962. From 1898 to mid-1960s, a large number of Russians, who had ties to China Eastern Railway, used to live in Harbin, which was a major junction city on the railway.
