Russian authorities should eliminate administrative barriers creating the main obstacle for emigrants to participate in Russia's modernization, the speaker of Russia's Upper House of Parliament, Sergei Mironov, said on Thursday.
Mironov made the statement in his opening speech at the World Thematic Conference of Compatriots in Moscow, which main topic is how to attract Russian emigrants, mainly scientists, to Russia's modernization.
Since Soviet times, top Russian professionals and scientists have been emigrating abroad or abandoned scientific work in favor of higher incomes in commerce or other spheres. Independent reports estimate at least 80,000 emigrated in the early 1990s.
The government is now pinning hopes on compatriots and their invaluable contribution to modernization processes in Russia, Mironov said.
A successful modernization without a substantial reduction of administrative barriers is impossible, he emphasized. He added that there is a "negative...experience in completing different types of forms and documents" for those who could be integrated in partnership with Russia.
"I believe that at the first stage we should provide conditions for native Russians to come from time to time to their motherland without obstacles and combine work here with their work abroad," Mironov said.
MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti)
