The Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat is Ambassador Sergei Belyaev of the Russian Federation who took up his post on 7 April 2011.

Ambassador Belyaev was born in the Russian Federation in 1953. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1975, and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations. He also studied economics and finance, as well as human resource management at the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow.

Ambassador Belyaev is a senior diplomat and held a number of diplomatic postings in the Russian Federation’s foreign service. He served as Ambassador to New Zealand (1995 to 1999) and was assigned to several postings in Africa, including Angola (1990-1992). High-level positions in the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation included Deputy Director in the Personnel Department (1999-2002) and Deputy Executive Secretary (1992-1995).

Ambassador Belyaev joined the OSCE in 2002 when he assumed the position of Deputy Director/Chief of Recruitment of the OSCE Secretariat’s Department of Human Resources in Vienna.  Before moving to head the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, Ambassador Belyaev served as Director of the same Department in the OSCE Secretariat (2006-2011).

Ambassador Belyaev speaks English and Portuguese and understands French and German.