Website of the President of Russia: Commissions and Councils

Meeting of Interdepartmental Commission on Implementation of National Programme to Assist Resettlement of Compatriots

2024-07-03T09:53:07+04:00

Minister of the Interior Vladimir Kolokoltsev chaired the 33^rd meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on the Implementation of the National Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots Living Abroad.

The meeting was attended by deputies and assistants to Presidential plenipotentiary envoys to the federal districts, heads of federal executive bodies, First Deputy Governor of the Pskov Region Vera Yemelyanova, Deputy Governor of the Novosibirsk Region Sergey Nelyubov, and Deputy Chairman of the Khabarovsk Territory Government for Social Affairs Yevgeny Nikonov.

During the meeting Vladimir Kolokoltsev noted that the mechanism of the national programme has now been adapted to meet the requirement of improving the quality of applicant selection. Starting already on January 1, compatriots must confirm sufficient command of the Russian language in order to apply for participation in the national programme. Special commissions have been set up in territorial bodies of the Russian Federation Interior Ministry to recognise a compatriot as having a command of the Russian language.

Chairman of the Commission stressed that the measures taken made it possible to prevent participation in the programme of 4,000 applicants who have no connection to Russia, who do not speak Russian and, in fact, are not compatriots.

According to the head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, along with toughening the selection of potential migrants, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is also taking measures to simplify the procedure for participation in the programme for certain categories of compatriots, for example, from unfriendly states.

Participants in the meeting discussed creating conditions for temporary accommodation of compatriots in the Far East, additional support measures for compatriots moving to the Far Eastern Federal District, as well as the implementation of regional resettlement programmes in the Novosibirsk and Pskov regions.

Meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of the National Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement in Russia of Compatriots Currently Living Abroad

2024-01-19T10:13:15+04:00

Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev chaired the 32^nd meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of the National Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement in Russia of Compatriots Currently Living Abroad.

The meeting was attended by deputies and aides of the plenipotentiary presidential representatives in the federal districts, heads of federal executive authorities, Magadan Region Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belozertsev and Sverdlovsk Region Deputy Governor Vasily Kozlov.

Opening the meeting, Vladimir Kolokoltsev informed the participants about the entry in force of the new citizenship law. It allows participants in the national programme to acquire citizenship without first obtaining a temporary or permanent residence permit. To become Russian citizens, they will only need to present documents confirming their knowledge of the Russian language, history and the foundations of Russian law.

The Interior Minister emphasised that the law expanded the list of crimes resulting in the termination of citizenship.

The participants discussed ways of helping compatriots that would like to move to Russia from the territory of unfriendly states. It was noted that since May 2022, one third of the over 5,000 applications have been submitted by compatriots living in unfriendly countries.

The established feedback mechanisms make it possible to promptly amend the current legislation to reflect the needs of potential immigrants. Thus, Presidential Executive Order No. 547 signed on August 12, 2022, granted compatriots from unfriendly countries the right to use the national programme and submit their applications in the country of their stay rather than residence, as is the rule for other categories of compatriots living abroad. This amendment almost doubled the number of potential immigrants.

Speakers noted the importance of upgrading mechanisms of the national programme to improve the conditions for the relocation of compatriots. On November 22, 2023, the President signed his Executive Order No. 872 on introducing the institution of repatriation since January 1, 2024. It simplifies the relocation of compatriots to the territory of any Russian region, including Moscow, St Petersburg and the Moscow Region without approval of authorised regional bodies.

The meeting participants deemed it expedient to continue work on improving the process of the relocation of compatriots as part of implementing the State Migration Policy Concept of the Russian Federation for 2019–2025.

Meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on implementing the State Programme to assist the voluntary resettlement of compatriots

2023-06-02T19:44:39+04:00

The 31^st meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on implementing the State Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots Living Abroad to the Russian Federation took place under the chairmanship of Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

The event was attended by deputies and assistants of plenipotentiary presidential envoys to the federal districts, heads of federal executive authorities, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Vasil Shaikhraziyev, Deputy Chairman of the Omsk Region Government, Minister of Labour and Social Development Vladimir Kupriyanov, and Deputy Governor of Kaluga Region Konstantin Gorobtsov.

Vladimir Kolokoltsev recalled that at the final session of the Interior Ministry Board, Vladimir Putin noted the importance of conducting a comprehensive analysis of migration issues with the long-term interests and goals of national development in mind. Special emphasis was placed on work with citizens in the new regions.

In addition, it was reported that on May 16, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin held a strategic session on migration policy. Participants in the session mapped out promising areas and main goals in this sector until 2030, including issues of compatriot resettlement.

Mr Kolokoltsev said much had been done in the past few years to improve and promote the resettlement process. In particular, participants in the state programme have the right to receive Russian citizenship without prior obtaining a temporary or permanent residence permit. These amendments will enter into force in late October. A number of legislative acts by the President and the Government have been issued to facilitate relocation from unfriendly states, ease the procedure of submitting resettlement documents and processing entry visas. Work has been organised to adjust regional programmes by removing excessive demands for this category of individuals.

The Interior Minister emphasised that the process of returning home should be easy, quick and understandable, but of course, without any risk to national security. He pointed out the importance of upgrading standards and regulations for resettlement to Russia, with the active participation of all departments involved in this process.

Mr Kolokoltsev stated that the regions are doing much to draft their own programmes, implement measures on receiving resettlers, helping them organise everyday life and get jobs and provide them with social support. The Interior Minister reported that since the start of the State Programme, over 1,100,000 people moved to Russia for permanent residence. Of this number, about 80,000 arrived in 2022–2023. The Central, Ural, Siberian and Volga federal districts have received the majority of compatriots.

The participants in the session listened to reports on implementing regional resettlement programmes in Tatarstan, and the Omsk and Kaluga regions.

Meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for implementing the state programme to assist voluntary resettlement of compatriots

2016-05-20T13:39:30+04:00

The Intergovernmental Commission for Implementing the State Programme to Assist Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots Living Abroad held its 25^th meeting.

Taking part in the meeting were deputies and aides to the plenipotentiary presidential envoys to the federal districts, heads of federal executive agencies, and representatives of the regional executive authorities.

The participants examined and approved a report on the results of the state programme’s implementation in 2015, and approved draft instruments, including a draft presidential executive order on improving work with large families under the state programme.

The Commission expressed its support for the Republic of Tatarstan’s regional resettlement programme and draft amendments to the regional resettlement programme in Primorye Territory, Khabarovsk Territory, and the Kurgan Region. The Republic of Tyva and Chukotka Autonomous District also obtained support for the request for more time to draft their regional resettlement programmes.

The Commission members also heard reports and updates on the results obtained in implementing the state programme in the Central Federal District and use of the state programme’s mechanisms to help integrate into Russian society displaced persons from Ukraine, based on the example of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

World Congress of Compatriots

2015-11-05T17:32:02+04:00

Vladimir Putin took part in the plenary session of the fifth World Congress of Compatriots Living Abroad.

The World Congress of Compatriots Living Abroad works to unite Russians abroad, defend their rights and lawful interests, build stronger ties with their historical homeland, and preserve the Russian cultural heritage and language abroad.

The Congress is meeting in Moscow on November 5–6 and is dedicated to the 70^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Taking part are about 400 representatives of Russian communities in 97 countries.

With about 30 million people, the Russian diaspora is one of the four largest in the world.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends.

It is a pleasure to greet the participants in the fifth World Congress of Compatriots here in Moscow – the Russian capital that all of you and all of us hold dear.

Yesterday we celebrated our national holiday, the Day of National Unity, a day to remember the heroic pages of our history, the feats performed by our ancestors in the name of this country’s freedom and prosperity. This holiday symbolises the unity of the multi-ethnic people of Russia and our compatriots living abroad.

The make-up of the delegates – and we have people from almost 100 countries here, 97 to be exact – demonstrates the size and diversity of the Russian community abroad. We are sincerely grateful to you, friends, for maintaining your deep internal connection to your historical Motherland, for being proud of Russia, for valuing its culture and its spiritual traditions and for sharing its fate and its current concerns.

We felt your solidarity during the reunification of the Crimea and Sevastopol with Russia. This was a historic event. The decisive support of our compatriots, who expressed their firm desire to be with Russia, to support Russia definitely helped unify Russian society and became an important factor in the consolidation of Russians abroad and the entire Russian community.

Russia highly values your contribution to the preservation and development of the Russian language and to promoting our common cultural values.

We can see that the Russian Orthodox Church and our other traditional religions are playing an ever-greater role in expanding humanitarian ties between our compatriots and Russia. The Russian expatriate community has always united people of different ethnicities and faith. It is important that today you are together resolving common issues and the tasks facing this country.

I would like to thank our compatriots who helped this year to organise and hold events dedicated to the 70^th anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism. My deep gratitude goes to those who honoured the veterans living abroad, who took part in the St George Ribbon and the Immortal Regiment campaigns, who countered attempts to distort the past and reduce the decisive role of the people of the Soviet Union in defeating Nazism.

Friends,

Far-reaching support for our compatriots has always been a priority for us, an area of joint action by the state and by public organisations. We will make every effort to make this work more efficient and less bureaucratic, so that any compatriot could make comments, proposals and suggestions and the feedback to the questions you ask and issues you raise is as quick and substantive as possible – to make the feedback more human.

This approach is the guiding one in the work of the Commission for the Affairs of Compatriots Living Abroad, the Foreign Ministry, the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation, and our other agencies.

We have a corresponding programme of action for 2015–2017 directed at enhancing work with our compatriots. The Hello, Russia! project has become an important part of that programme. It includes educational trips to historical sites in Russia for winners of competitions on this country’s history and culture. This year about 1,000 people from 47 countries have already taken advantage of this opportunity.

In addition, as envisaged in the programme, in April in Sochi we held the First World Junior Compatriot Games, dedicated to the 70^th anniversary of the Great Victory. The Games involved about 600 children from 33 countries.

Russian regions are also implementing interesting and useful projects. They involve businesses, academics, cultural personalities and young people. Thus, the annual Forum of Young Compatriots organised by the St Petersburg administration enjoys great popularity. The government of Tatarstan has already held six World Forums of Tatar Youth. We expect our border areas to become more active in this sphere.

We intend to pay special attention to preserving and developing the Russian language, as I have already said. For centuries, it has been the language of interethnic communication for the numerous ethnic groups of the Eurasian continent, helping them to discover treasures of world culture and to acquaint themselves with advances in science and technology.

We cannot remain indifferent, we cannot help feeling concern when a number of countries are for political reasons consistently destroying the system of education in Russian and are using all sorts of pretexts to hamper the operation of Russian theatres, libraries and cultural centres.

A lot was said at the previous forum of the need to develop education in Russian abroad. We have already worked out a concept for Russian schools abroad. The purpose of such schools is to promote national methods of teaching and education, of developmental teaching, to assist in the study of the Russian language and of subjects that have to do with this country, with Russia, such as this country’s history and geography, the history of its culture and the arts.

It is clear that we need to make more efficient use of extracurricular educational establishments, like Sunday schools at Russian Orthodox churches and educational centres of our other religions to set up courses and groups to study Russian.

We also intend to expand the network of Russian cultural and research centres and to more actively involve national businesses operating abroad in the organisation of Russian schools and cultural centres and communication platforms for the direct communication of people abroad.

We plan to develop the system of grants for the support of cultural and educational projects with the Russkiy Mir Foundation, as well as within the framework of the new federal programme Russian Language adopted in 2015, which has been allocated 6.5 billion rubles.

We will continue supporting the move of Russian expatriates to expand the common communication space. Today Russian-language media are represented in more than 80 countries. While retaining their independent unbiased position and often expressing varying points of view, a vast majority of these are striving to provide accurate and fair coverage of present-day Russia, its history, its achievements and the most important foreign policy developments.

All this definitely serves to strengthen this country’s international authority and influence; it helps destroy the stereotypes and preconceptions of the past and respond to all sorts of propaganda ploys with the truth about this country. We will continue helping Russian-language media, including through the Foundation for Cooperation with Russian-Language Media Abroad, established last autumn.

We believe it is extremely important to create favourable conditions for our young compatriots to study at Russian universities. In 2015, their quota reached 15,000. We will of course continue to assist the branches of our educational establishments in other countries, primarily within the CIS. Quite a few of our universities have opened branches there already, and we will continue this trend.

An important task is to provide reliable protection to our compatriots against all sorts of discrimination and to ensure their lawful rights and freedoms. This includes such key rights as the opportunity to study their national language and to retain their cultural and spiritual traditions.

The Foundation for Supporting and Protecting the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad offers serious assistance here. Since 2012, it has implemented some 300 projects in 42 countries. About 40,000 people have received tangible help. People who for some reason have found themselves outside Russia should be confident that we will always defend their interests, particularly in complicated, critical situations, such as in Libya, Syria and Yemen.

We will also continue implementing the state programme to assist the voluntary relocation of our compatriots to Russia, as well as corresponding regional programmes operating in 59 regions of the Russian Federation. I would like to note that 367,000 people have relocated to Russia under this programme, about 130,000 of them coming from Ukraine.

We fully understand that help to those who would like to return to Russia needs to be constantly upgraded. We still have many problems here. I am well aware of the practical side of this work – a lot remains to be done. Your feedback is also very important here: your assessment of the problems, proposals on programmes for employment, professional training, housing and help in starting up a business – how to make it more flexible, more in line with the realities of life, directed at specific people and families.

We also plan to expand the use of modern humanitarian technologies. One of them is the creation of a single accessible information resource, where one can receive consultations on a broad range of issues.

Friends,

There is another important area I would like to single out that directly affects the realm of restoring the unity of Russian history, civic accord and overcoming the dramatic division that we have inherited from the past.

I am referring to efforts to return to Russia the heritage of our outstanding compatriots. They were forced to leave Russia for a number of reasons, but they continued serving their Motherland, many of them seeing it as their mission. We value this very highly.

The construction of the first Museum of Russia Abroad will begin in Moscow shortly. It will become part of the Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad, and its collection and equipment are to make it one of the best museums in Russia.

I would like to note here that in the 20 years of its functioning, the House of Russia Abroad has been gifted about a quarter of a million museum exhibits, archive documents and books. Among them are works by outstanding famous painters, collections of autographs and other documents of our famous writers, politicians, public figures and thinkers. The vast collections of books and periodicals at the House show convincingly that despite complicated, often dramatic circumstances, our people abroad did everything in their power to ensure that the future generations never forgot where they came from.

I would like to stress that all the relics we have been given are stored by the state. Just as their authors and creators wished, this priceless intellectual and cultural heritage will serve Russia, its people and the future generations of this country.

Friends,

There is a lot we still need to do to strengthen business and cultural ties between our compatriots and Russia. We will work to meet our targets and we will meet them.

The main thing is that we remain truly close. I am certain that wherever you are, you historical Motherland will always offer you reliable support and be the subject of your sincere love that inspires people for life.

I would like to thank you for your work, for your attention to the problems of present-day Russia and wish you all the best.

Thank you very much.

Meeting of Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of the National Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots

2015-11-21T12:23:55+04:00

Head of the Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romodanovsky chaired the 24^th meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of the National Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots Currently Living Abroad.

Participants in the meeting included commission members, representatives of the federal and regional executive agencies, Presidential plenipotentiaries to the federal districts and the academic community.

In opening the meeting, Konstantin Romodanovsky briefly summed up the main results of the National Programme implementation in the first nine months of 2015, noting that in that period, over 136,000 compatriots had moved to Russia. Mr Romodanovsky stressed that in accordance with the presidential instructions, the National Programme’s mechanisms are being actively used to provide assistance to compatriots arriving urgently, en masse from Ukraine with settling down and processing their necessary legal status documents in Russia. In particular, over 129,000 Ukrainians arrived in Russia within the framework of the National Programme in 2014–2015, with over 87,000 of them arriving in 2015 alone.

During the meeting, participants examined and approved draft regional resettlement programmes for a number of Russian regions. After approving the regional programme for Krasnodar Territory, which plans to join the work to admit compatriots, the number of regions working under the National Programme will reach 60.

The meeting outlined measures to intensify the resettlement of compatriots in Russia, including students, researchers and experts in rare and unique areas of expertise.

Commission members supported a draft Presidential Executive Order prepared by the Federal Migration Service on amendments to the National Programme aimed at using the mechanism of targeted admission of migrants to study at universities and provide them with support in starting small and medium-sized businesses, including farms.

Meeting of Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of the National Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement in Russia of Compatriots Currently Living Abroad

2015-03-20T18:00:46+04:00

Head of the Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romodanovsky chaired the 20^th meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of the National Programme to Assist the Voluntary Resettlement in Russia of Compatriots Currently Living Abroad.

In particular, meeting participants assessed the progress made in carrying out the National Programme in 2013 and discussed problems occurring in its implementation. Corresponding instructions were issued to the Regional Development Ministry, Foreign Ministry and the Federal Migration Service.

The Interdepartmental Commission’s work plan for 2014 was adopted during the meeting.