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We are at a critical juncture," Putin said last week, as he described population decline as a threat to Russia's national security. The official statistics say that the number of Russians has shrunk by 11.2 million since 1993 because of high mortality and a low birth rate. If the trend continues, the population could fall from 143 million today to 100 million by mid-century.
A new decree, signed by Putin and posted on the Kremlin Web site, authorizes a state program on "assisting the voluntary immigration of compatriots living abroad" and set up a state commission to oversee the process.
The program offers monetary and social benefits for those who decide to repatriate. However, it gives only a vague definition of "compatriots", describing them as people "brought up in the traditions of Russian culture ... who do not want to lose links with Russia".
A Kremlin spokesman said that the plan embraced "holders of Russian passports, Russian-speakers with dual citizenship, or people who are planning to apply for Russian passports".
On Tuesday, Putin returned to the issue, calling on diplomats to make it easier for would-be immigrants to come to Russia as one way of dealing with the country's demographic crisis. The Foreign Ministry should work more proactively with Russians living abroad, Putin said. "This work is important for a broader state migration policy," he said. "It must be an effective tool in overcoming Russia's demographic problems."
During his state of the nation address in May, Putin called the decline of Russia's population - which he said was falling by 700,000 people a year - the country's biggest problem. He said a sensible migration policy could help solve the problem.
According to the new decree signed Monday, each of the Russian regions will have its own resettlement program, with the standard version to be developed in one month.
The initiative immediately received a wide response in the Russian media, as well as in government and business circles. At a round table of Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chamber's president Yevgeny Primakov called the country's demographic policy a matter of national priority.
"We must create better [working] conditions where the streams of immigrants will move, especially from CIS countries," Primakov was quoted by Regnum news agency as saying.
Lidia Grafova, a renowned journalist, Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the "Forum of Migrant Organizations" and a member of governmental Commission on Migratory Policy, was quoted by Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily as saying that the new program will be successful if the government will accompany it with a immigration amnesty, legalizing thousands of "forced immigrants" - people who either fled or were forced to return to Russia only to be repeatedly denied citizenship due to bureaucratic red tape.
Viktor Tolokonsky, the governor of the Novosibirsk region, affirmed that at least some of the relocating compatriots are welcome in the region. According to Tolokonsky, the regional administration primarily depends on young people who want to receive a grade-quality yet relatively inexpensive higher education.
"Even as this decree was being prepared, we were saying that the Novosibirsk region will be willing to receive these young people - our compatriots from CIS countries - to enroll into our educational institutions... We are in high demand for young specialists," the governor said.
By Adam Kleszewski The Moscow News
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