MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government has increased the annual quota for international students who can get state-funded places to study or train in Russia, an update on the Kremlin website says.
The document, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and posted Wednesday, increases the number of foreign and stateless people who are eligible for state-funded places in Russian higher education institutions by 5,000, to 15,000 each year.
The increase is, in part, a response to greater demand from Russian state agencies and institutions including the atomic energy agency Rosatom, the lower house of parliament, and the anti-narcotics agency (FSKN) for training officials for foreign countries.
The document, dated October 8, says that people from China, Iran, Mongolia, the Palestinian Authority and Vietnam typically show most interest in state-funded study in Russia, while the past year has seen increased demand from students in Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy.