YEREVAN. – A total of 670,000 Armenian citizens traveled to Russia in 2013, which is 20 percent more than the 540,000 people in 2012.

Svetlana Stepanova, Migration Policy Officer at the Russian Embassy in Armenia, stated the aforementioned.

As per Stepanova, the number of Armenian nationals officially working in Russia constituted 130,000 last year, and this is 4 percent more than the 2012 indicator.

The embassy representative noted that 23,400 Armenian citizens were refused entry to Russia in 2013, and another 8,000 were declined entry as of Monday. Hence, a total of 31,500 Armenian nationals have been rejected entry to Russia.

Svetlana Stepanova also noted that 170,000 Armenian citizens are among the risk group.

“These are the citizens who have violated the duration of stay [in Russia], have not prepared a work permit, and continue to stay in Russia. Once crossing the border, their entry to Russia will be automatically prohibited,” she added.