A list of instructions made following a meeting on the topic of state employment policy has been approved by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, it has been revealed.

According to reports from the Kremlin press service, Mr Medvedev backed a number of measures, including proposals to provide assistance to unemployed people if they decide to launch their own business, boost the number of jobs available to out-of-work disabled citizens and improve the employment situation in Russian federal constituents.

Furthermore - among other instructions - he gave the green light to the right of women on maternity leave to sit professional training courses provided by recruitment agencies.

In addition, the president backed proposals to supply a support program to small to medium-sized companies.

The news follows statistics from RIA Novosti, which showed 5.7 million people in Russia were registered as unemployed by January 2011.

However, joblessness was found to have dropped from 8.4 per cent to 7.5 per cent in 2010.

Posted by Alex Donnell