Russia Changes Time Zone in Siberia
By Anne Buckle. Published 5-Jan-2016
Russia will change the time zone of Zabaykalski Krai in Siberia. Clocks there will be turned forward by one hour from 02:00 (2 am) to 03:00 (3 am) on March 27, 2016.
Chita in Siberia, Russia.
©bigstockphoto.com/Dmitry Nautilus
Affected cities include Zabaykalsk and the Krai's administrative center, Chita.
New Time Zone
The change will push Zabaykalsky Krai in the Trans-Baikal Territory in Siberia from today's time zone Irkutsk Time (IRKT) to Yakutsk Time (YAKT).
This changes the UTC offset from UTC +8 to UTC +9. Neighboring Mongolia and China currently have the same time as Zabaykalski Krai but will be one hour behind after the switch.
More Proposed New Time Zones
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law changing the time zone in Zabaykalsky Krai on December 30, 2015.
There are several more regions in Russia that have submitted draft bills proposing changes to their time zones. These proposals still need to go through the stages of the legislative process and finally be signed by the president.
It is uncertain if and when the time zones will be changed:
- Zabaykalsky Krai, UTC +8 to UTC +9
- Astrakhan Oblast, UTC +3 to UTC +4
- Sakhalin Oblast, UTC +10 to UTC +11
- Ulyanovsk Oblast, UTC +3 to UTC +4
- Altai Republic, UTC +6 to UTC +7
- Altai Krai, UTC +6 to UTC +7
- Magadan Oblast, UTC +10to UTC +11
Russia has a history of time changes. Recently the country added two new time zones and stopped using Daylight Saving Time (DST).