Sergei Ordzhonikidze is a Russian diplomat. He was the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva

United Nations Office at Geneva

The United Nations Office at Geneva is the second-largest of the four major office sites of the United Nations...

 from 2002 - 2011. He was first appointed to the position by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

 in March 2002 and was reappointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Ban Ki-moon

Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...

 in February 2007.

Previously, Ordzhonikidze served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, a post he had held since 1999. From 1996 to 1999, he served as Director of the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 1991 and 1996, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union and then of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations

This is a list of permanent representatives of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation to the United Nations- Of the Soviet Union :- Of Russia :- External links :...

 in New York. Before that, he was Deputy Chief of the International Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1983 to 1991.

He started his career in the Soviet diplomatic service in 1969 and served in the Permanent Mission of the Soviet Union to the United Nations in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 until 1975. From 1975 to 1978, he was Assistant to the Deputy Foreign Minister in Moscow. From 1978 to 1983, he continued to serve in his country’s permanent mission to the UN in New York.

Ordzhonikidze finished his study in the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1969 and completed his post graduate studies on international law at the Diplomatic Academy of Moscow

Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

The Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation also known as State Educational Institution Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, is a diplomatic institution established in 1934 to teach and train the diplomatic and...

in 1978. He is fluent in English and Spanish and knows some French.