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Major geopolitical shifts and trends in their development starting from 2022, among other issues, have led to a sharp increase in the volume of migration flows. A large number of IT specialists came to Armenia in the past months, most of them from Russia. The inflow from the EAEU countries to Armenia continued in September-October. In addition to the IT, a large number of representatives of other fields also came. The Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration Vagharshak Hakobyan said at the sitting of the Committee on October 14.

The Committee convened a sitting aimed at discussing a number of issues related to the impact of labor migration from the EAEU member states to Armenia on the economy of our country, effective management of migration flows, hotel economy, the volume of housing stock and other issues.

The RA Deputy Minister of Economy Armen Arzumanyan noted that until the recent geopolitical events, Armenia was a labor exporting country within the framework of the EAEU. About 80-100 thousand citizens of the Republic of Armenia went to other countries for seasonal work every year. The Deputy Minister clarified that the citizens of the CIS and EAEU member states can stay freely in the territory of the member states of the agreement for up to 180 days. After the expiration of that period, if the citizen of the EAEU member country wants to stay in the given country, then the existence of an employment contract with the employer provides an opportunity to stay in the territory of the EAEU member country indefinitely. On the other hand, according to the existing regulations between the Russian Federation and Armenia, those citizens who are temporarily registered at any residential address in the country can stay in the given country indefinitely.

The Deputy Minister presented the programs initiated by the Ministry to alleviate the problems related to the residence and work of immigrants. According to him, immigrant citizens have a serious impact on the activity of the Armenian economy.

As of July 2022, about 5.900 citizens of the IT sector arrived in Armenia, 84% of whom are from the Russian Federation.

According to the Deputy Minister, we have problems with the housing stock: the prices of apartments for rent have increased too much, which has also affected the RA citizens.

The deputies were interested in what the Ministry has done so that the foreign citizens who came to Armenia integrate their workforce into our country.

Armen Arzumanyan noted that some situational solutions have been given to the problem, but time is needed to make certain analyses and present proposals. The Ministry had meetings with about 40 immigrants and gave solutions to their problems.

Sisian Boghossian, the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee, informed that 1 million 240 thousand tourists visited Armenia during the nine months of the current year, about 46% of which came from Russia. 135 thousand tourists came to Armenia in August, their number was about 97 thousand in September.

The deputies noticed that the lack of hotels in Armenia, in particular, in Yerevan, as well as the unjustified high prices of their rooms, have a negative impact on the development of the tourism sector.

Irina Davtyan, the Deputy Head of the Migration Service, informed that the structure received 4.200 applications from the citizens of the EAEU member states from January to October 14. 99% of applicants are the citizens of the Russian Federation. 1.300 applications were received from family members of the citizens who have the right to work in our country.

The deputies urged the officials of the departments to spread information through social advertising, through which people arrived in Armenia will get acquainted with both their rights and responsibilities.