The government has approved a state program aiming to resettle about 2,000 foreign citizens of Russian extraction in two regions of central Russia. The program accords priority to educated professionals as well as large families.
A document published on the government web-site on Thursday deals with the regions of Orenburg and Bashkortostan, covering the period between 2017 and 2020. It states that the Orenburg Region can accept up to 1,200 foreign citizens whose relatives previously lived on the territory that lies within the present borders of the Russian Federation. Medical specialists, teachers, engineers and scientists will get priority for resettlement, as will families with three or more children.
The Bashkortostan region is to accept over 700 people in the same period, among whom healthcare specialists and medical students will be well-represented.
In 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin brought into force a bill of simpler and faster rules for granting citizenship to those in the “compatriots living abroad” category – namely, people who speak Russian and have at least one ancestor who was a permanent resident of any state that was or is within the borders of the current Russian Federation.
In 2017 Putin proposed including these people in the state program of free land distribution, noting that successful candidates should have a desire to work and create strong families.