Vehicle registration plates of Russia

A bus with its registration number displayed in large characters on the back

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.

History

Current plate format

A motorcycle registration plate

Russian private vehicle registration plate

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). Finally, the region number (77, 97, 99, 177, 197, 199, and 777 for Moscow, 78, 98, and 178 for Saint Petersburg, etc.) and letters "RUS" are included, as well as the national flag (the flag was not used on some of the earliest plates of this format). There is a different format for trailers (2 letters and 4 digits). Motorcycles, mopeds and scooters plates are made of square reflective plates and it's format is 4 digits at the top and two letters at the bottom. These plates lack national flag.

The standard size for the license plate is 520 mm by 110 mm.

Some vehicles, like trolleybuses, are not required to have license plates, because they cannot leave the network they operate on and can be identified by number that is painted and is given by local public transport authority. Trucks and buses generally have their licence numbers repeated in large letters on the rear of the vehicle for easier identification (a practice continued from Soviet days), although they also bear licence plates. Some autonomous regions are not required to have the flag on the licence plates.

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 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.
	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 into 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.

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.^[1]

As of 2014, there are new codes for Russian plates; number 82 for the Republic of Crimea and 92 for Sevastopol. The Russian Federation then officially 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.

Runout problem

As per GOST provision, only 1,726,272 combinations may be issued within one administration unit. In certain regions, the amount of vehicles exceeds that number, and the combination may not be reused after a vehicle was taken off the registration. All this creates an issue of running out of numbers.

A short-term solution was introducing more codes for those regions. Thus, some regions have two codes issued to them, Republic of Tatarstan and the city of St. Petersburg have three, Krasnoyarsk Krai has four, Moscow Oblast has five, and the federal city of Moscow has seven 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 standardized layout of the plate.

Introduction of new style license plate is being considered as a future solution.

Regional codes

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). 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 adding a "1" or a "7" to the existing regional code (e.g. 63 and 163 for Samara Oblast or 50, 150, 750 in Moscow Oblast).^[2] The most recent new number to be issued was code 799 for Moscow City after code 777 expired on July 22, 2017. Code 716 was released for the Republic of Tatarstan 11 days earlier. The next new codes in the line-up are rumoured to be 763 for Samara Oblast, and 761 for Rostov Oblast, in that order. Those regions with an asterisk (*) beside them were involved in mergers with other regions and have their codes listed with an asterisk with the region they are now a part of.

Codes of diplomatic representative offices and international organizations

014 is the code for Norway in Russia

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Order 282 from March 28, 2002.^[4]

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/A1
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/A2
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/A3
107	Palestine
108	Nicaragua
109	Mozambique
110	Equatorial Guinea
111	Sovereign Military Order of Malta4
112	Malta
113	Cape Verde
114	N/A
115	Zimbabwe
116	United Arab Emirates
117	Ivory Coast
118	Namibia
119	N/A5
120	Oman
121	Qatar
122	N/A6
123	N/A7
124	South Korea
125	Chile
126	Panama8
127	Israel
128	Macedonia9
129	Albania
130	N/A10
131	Vatican City
132	Lithuania
133	Syria
134	Estonia
135	Latvia
136	Bahrain
137	South Africa
138	Armenia
139	N/A11
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/A12
502	N/A13
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	International Scientific and Technical Centre
520	International Labour Organization
521	Interelectrode International Organization for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Electrical Industry
522	Coordination Centre of the Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation in Computing Machinery
523	Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States
524	European Space Agency
525	Eurasian Patent Organization
526	earlier Taipei-Moscow Coordination Commission for Economic and Cultural Cooperation
527	The Headquarters for Coordination of Military Cooperation of the state-participants of the Commonwealth of Independent States
528	Interstate Bank
529	Eurasian Economic Community (earlier - Integration Committee of the Eurasian Economic Community)
530	International Research Institute of Management Problems
531	Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTA)
532	Intergovernmental Statistical Committee of the CIS
533	Secretary of Council of Interparliamentary Assembly of state-participants of the Commonwealth of Independent States
534	Eurasian Development Bank
535	Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational Cooperation of the CIS
555	Eurasian Economic Commission
556	Program Office of the Council of Europe in Russia
557	Antiterrorist Centre of CIS member states
900	Honorary consuls and offices headed by them

Notes

¹Code 059 is a former code for Syria. The current code for Syria is 133.

²Code 092 is a former code for Czechoslovakia. Currently, codes for Czech Republic and Slovakia are 148 (Czech Republic), and 149 (Slovakia).

³Code 106 is a former code for the Central African Republic. The current code for the Central African Republic is 103.

⁴Earlier, code 111 belonged to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. Replaced by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

⁵Code 119 is a former code for South Africa. The current code for South Africa is 137.

⁶Code 122 is a former code for the Arab League. The current code for the Arab League is 503.

⁷Code 123 is a former code for Liechtenstein.

⁸Earlier, code 126 belonged to UNESCO. Replaced by Panama.

⁹Earlier, code 128 belonged to the European Union. Replaced by Macedonia.

¹⁰Code 130 is a former code for the International Organizations.

¹¹Code 139 is a former code for Georgia. The current code Georgia is 158.

¹²Code 501 is a former code for the Un International Centre.

¹³Code 502 is a former code for the Eurocommision. The current code for this organization is 499.

See also

• Vehicle registration plate
• European vehicle registration plates

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to License plates of Russia.