President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has submitted to the Russian State Duma a federal bill on citizenship of the Russian Federation, RBC reports.

The bill proposes to expand the powers of the President to determine the categories of persons entitled to acquire Russian citizenship through a simplified procedure and envisages cutting the number of requirements for citizenship for persons under over 20 categories, including citizens of the former USSR and their children, Russians abroad (participants of a state program contributing to voluntary resettlement in Russia), people whose close relatives live in and are citizens of Russia, etc.

The bill also proposes to only leave the granting of citizenship under the exclusive jurisdiction of the President, and this applies to veterans of the Great Patriotic War (citizens of the former USSR), persons having provided special services to Russia and persons who are of interest for the country due to their profession or qualification.

“As far as persons under the remaining categories, the right to make decisions on citizenship of the Russian Federation is reserved for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the bill reads.

The institution of termination of citizenship of the Russian Federation is being introduced instead of annulment of the decision on acceptance of Russian citizenship.