Return migration of compatriots to Russia: is there a migration potential?

The present article gives estimation of the number of Russian-speaking communities abroad, as well as approximate assessment of the compatriots' potential for migration to the Russian Federation from three main Central Asian countries - Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The authors analyze some results of the implementation of the programme for resettlement of compatriots in the context of the current migration policy of the Russian Federation. They consider the regional specifics of the compatriots' settlement in Russia, as well as the regional features of the implementation of the resettlement programme. They also identify the main factors ‘pushing' compatriots out of the Central Asian countries and the ‘attracting' factors in Russia that determine the regions of migrants' settlement. The article is based on the analysis of the Federal Migration Service statistics and expert interviews.