KHUNAND, May 31, Asia-Plus - The first six residents of the Sughd province who are leaving for the Russian Federation for permanent residence received certificates of participants of the program for voluntary resettlement to the Russian Federation at the Russian General Consulate in Khujand on May 30.  

Six families from the cities of Khujand, Qairoqqum, and Taboshar, as well as the settlement of Palas and the Mastchoh district will move to Russia’s regions of Lipetsk, Kaliningrad and Kaluga.  

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the Russian General Consul Azim Yarakhmedov said that under those certificates, they will receive Russian citizenship and privileges provided for by the resettlement program within four-seven months.  According to him, 15 families from northern Tajikistan have moved to Russia under this program so far.     

In all, the Sughd residents have to date lodged 1,500 applications for resettlement to Russia.  Among them there are many ethnic Tajiks, who want to leave for Russia seeking better employment opportunities or better future for their children, Russian diplomat said.  .