Lepel District was visited by a delegation from the Pskov Region of Russia.
Lepel District was visited by a delegation from the Pskov Region of Russia. The guests stayed in Domzheritsy, the central estate of the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve, where working meetings were held in the conference hall. Our northeastern neighbours were represented by Alexander Potenko, Head of the Federal Migration Service Directorate for the Pskov Region, and his subordinates Andrey Kalinin and Natalya Alekseeva. From the Belarusian side, the working meeting was attended by Tatyana Ramashova, Colonel of Militia, Head of the Citizenship and Migration Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, and her colleagues Anzhela Chernik and Boris Gevarkov. The meeting was opened with a welcoming speech by Nikolai Latyshov, Head of the Lepel District Department of Internal Affairs. During one of the breaks, Alexander Potenko agreed to give a brief interview.
He noted that the Federal Migration Service (FMS) of the Russian Federation deals with citizens arriving in or departing from our country. Registration records are kept, and illegal migrants are identified. Russia is the second country in the world after the USA in terms of the number of labour migrants it receives; according to various sources, there are between 10 and 12 million of them in our country.
In Soviet times, population migration registration was handled by a structure within the Ministry of Internal Affairs; in Belarus, passport and visa services within the Internal Affairs Departments continue to operate. In Russia, a political decision was made several years ago to establish the migration service as a separate structure and subordinate it to the government.
Belarusians can cross the Russian-Belarusian border without hindrance, reside without a residence permit for up to 90 days, work officially, use all social benefits, acquire residential and commercial real estate, create and register commercial enterprises, conduct business – in short, perform almost all actions that Russian citizens do. The Pskov Region borders Belarus for 352.5 kilometres. Out of the entire mass of migrants registered for migration purposes, only 14 percent are citizens of Belarus. Over the year, 37 citizens of Belarus obtained residence permits in Russia, and eight received Russian citizenship. Such small numbers are explained by the aforementioned advantages – for Belarusians, the issue of obtaining Russian citizenship is not particularly relevant for successful adaptation in society.