MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. About 400,000 people have used Russia’s government program for the resettlement of compatriots, a senior Federal Migration Service official told the World Congress of the Russian Press on Wednesday.
"At the moment 57 Russian territories are taking part in the program. They constitute a greater part of the country, which is prepared to accommodate compatriots. The program has been underway since 2007. A total of 394,000 have resettled to Russia since," the head of the FMS’s migrants and compatriots relations department, Vitaly Yakovlev said, adding that last year alone Russia welcomed 100,000 people under the program.
He said the program’s terms were of great interest outside Russia, including Ukraine.
"Last year and this year indicated that the mechanisms of this government program are widely employed by Ukrainian citizens to legalize their status in Russia," Yakovlev said.
Since 2014 90,000 citizens of Ukraine have resettled to Russia under the proposed arrangements.
"Last year 42,000 Ukrainian citizens used this mechanism. This year’s number of re-settlers from Ukraine is close to 50,000. This is a result of the tragic events continuing in Ukraine," Yakovlev said.
An overwhelming majority of those taking part in the program were CIS citizens.
As many as 98% of the program’s participants are former CIS nationals, although some come from Europe, the United States and Bolivia. The greatest flow is from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova and Ukraine," Yakovlev said.