Great Russian Encyclopedia

The Great Russian Encyclopedia (GRE; Russian: Большая российская энциклопедия, БРЭ, transliterated as Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya or academically as Bol'šaja rossijskaja ènciklopedija) is a universal Russian encyclopedia, completed in 36 volumes, published between 2004 and 2017 by Great Russian Encyclopedia, JSC (Russian: Большая российская энциклопедия ПАО, transliterated as Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya PAO). A successor to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, it was released under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) after President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree №1156 in 2002. The complete edition was released by 2017. The chief editor of the encyclopedia was Yury Osipov, the president of the RAS. The editorial board had more than 80 RAS members. The first, introductory volume, released in 2004, was dedicated to Russia. Thirty-five volumes were released between 2005 and 2017, covering the range from "A" to "Яя" (Yaya). The RAS plans to publish an updated version every five years, although it may not be issued in print after the first edition. On 17 June 2024 the project was suspended due to discontinued funding from the Russian government and by October 2024, its materials are being transferred to Ruwiki. In December 2024 it was decreed to liquidate the autonomous nonprofit organization "Great Russian Encyclopedia" by October 20, 2025. In September 2025 the Russian government allocated over 300 million rubles to complete the liquidation. In particular, this money will be used to pay the unpaid salaries, for layoff payments, and for debt repayments.