Around 170 thousand Armenian citizens are "in risk group" in Russia as of now.

Representative of Russian Embassy in Armenia Svetlana Stepanova stated this today, Mediamax reports.

"Risk group is the citizens who moved to Russia a long or short time ago, have their periods of stay expired, didn't leave the country, didn't apply for work permit and are still in Russia. Some of them work on an illegal basis, and the others only live in Russia. Their names are in our base and in case they cross the border, their entrance to Russia will be automatically blocked", said the Embassy representative.

According to her, Russia currently prohibited the entry for 31.5 thousand Armenian citizens. "In 2013, Russia blocked the entry for 23.4 thousand Armenian citizens, and for 8 more thousands this year", noted Svetlana Stepanova.

According to her, the entry prohibition is carried out in 2 terms. The first is when the entry is prohibited for 3 years for citizens who violated the regime of stay in Russia, committed 2 or more administrative violations over the 3 years of stay in Russia.

"Entry prohibition is not deportation. After 3 years, the person will be able to return to Russia. And the entry will be prohibited for 5 years for citizens who were deported or excluded", stressed the Embassy representative.

According to her, the decision on entry prohibition may be appealed in the court in the territory of Russian Federation.

According to the statistics provided by Svetlana Stepanova, about 670thousand Armenian citizens entered Russia over 2013, which is by 20% more than the 2012 indices (530 thousand).

As of the results of 2013, 130 thousand Armenian citizens worked in Russia. These are the citizens who worked in Russia on a legal basis.