450 Armenian NGOs, which were not informed of each other's activities, have been registered in Russia till 1999. Them it was decided to form an organization that would coordinate the activities of the Armenian Diaspora in Russia. In the course of formation of the Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR) 90% of the NGOs broke off activities, the others joined the UAR, Ara Abrahamyan, the UAR President stated at a press conference in Yerevan. In his words, about 2 million of Armenians live in Russia at present. Some 500 thousand are citizens of Armenia.

"After the formation of the UAR we decided to form an Armenian organization that would unite the whole Diaspora. Presently the World Armenian Congress unites the Armenian communities of 27 states. Our major problem was the interaction with the Armenian authorities. But I should underscore that presently the WAC and the Armenian state structures experience no discrepancies," he said.

Ara Abrahamyan remarked that the Armenia and Diaspora should work jointly. "Without the coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the WAC cannot deal with the Armenian Genocide issue within international structures. We have prepared a package consisting of 600 questions for submission to the International Tribunal. But the document will not have weight without the approval of the RA MFA," the WAC President said.