World press on massive emigration from Russia (June 21, 2013)

Die Welt published an article devoted to emigration from Russia. The artcile was headlined 'Russen geben auf – und flüchten ins Ausland' ('Russians give up and flee abroad').

"Those, who are active and have entrepreneurial spirit, cannot use their skills in Putin's Russia. The state repressions prevent it. For thousands of Russians emigration is the only way out," the article begins.

Garri Kasparov and Sergey Guriyev have recently left Russia, the author of the article, Eduard Steiner, notes. "One of them is a world chess champion and an opposition figure. The second is a former counselor of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and rector of the Russian Economics School," he writes.

Steiner admits that both case are rather peculiar, but underlines that they show the general tendency. He quotes the independent polling centre Levada as saying that 22 per cent of Russians would like to leave their native land. The figure is almost twice as great as that of 2009, the year of a severe economic crisis. Of course it doesn't mean that all these people are really going to emigrate. Only 1 per cent of Russians are in fact planning emigration and preparing the necessary papers, the author writes.

However, one should note that Russia has over 140 million population, which means that there 1 million people ready to leave the country, Steiner underlines.

The reason is Vladimir Putin's decision to run for presidency for the third time. Moreover, Russians are depressed about the current political and social situation in the country. Those who are seriously considering emigration are mainly businessmen and students, the author writes.