PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia -- Officials in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula say they are ready for the first of hundreds of ethnic Russian repatriates to begin resettling there, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Natalya Nitsenko, the chief of the regional Labor Department, said on February 5 that the sparsely populated Kamchatka Peninsula urgently needs qualified workers and educated professionals. Some 700 Russian repatriates from abroad -- mainly from former Soviet republics -- are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Nitsenko said the peninsula is prepared to accept more than 4,000 repatriates in the framework of the government's program on "repatriation of compatriots from abroad."
Nitsenko said Kamchatka especially needs qualified physicians, engineers, and shipbuilders. There are a wide range of vacant jobs in the capital,
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and the peninsula's other districts.
The regional government will cover all transportation and documentation-related expenses for the repatriates, each of whom will receive 120,000 rubles (about $4,000) to resettle. Their dependents will receive a monthly stipend.