Blokhin graduated from the
Ivanovo Power Institute in 1974, and for the next three years worked in various capacities at
Fizpribor in
Kirov. From 1977 to 1978, Blokhin was attached to the
USSR Ministry of Defence, and from 1983 to 1990 was the chief
engineer of the
Shchelkovo Bioindustrial Complex. In 1990, Blokhin was elected a member of the
Supreme Soviet of Russia, and served until
its dissolution in 1993. Since 1992, he has worked in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Alexander Blokhin's first ambassadorial appointment came in 1995, when he was appointed at
ambassador of Russia to Azerbaijan, a post he held until 1999. From January 2000 he was the Minister for Federal Affairs, Nationalities and Migration in
Mikhail Kasyanov's Cabinet, until October 2001 when the position was abolished. In September 2002, he began his next ambassador post as
Ambassador of Russia to Belarus, staying in
Minsk until July 2005. On 10 November 2005, by
decree of
President Vladimir Putin, Blokhin was appointed as
Ambassador of Russia to Australia. As Russia's ambassador to Australia, Alexander Blokhin was concurrently accredited as the non-resident ambassador to
Fiji,
Vanuatu and
Nauru, in January 2006, February 2006 and March 2006, respectively. Blokhin speaks
Russian and
English. == References ==