120 US volunteers started working in Russia last year. Other 70 are up to arrive in 2001. Russia to send its volunteers to USA

70 Peace Corps volunteers intend to visit Russia this year, said Andrei Melnikov, who directs Peace Corps programs in European Russia. According to Melnikov, about 120 newly-admitted volunteers started working in European Russia and the Russian Far East over the September-October 2000 period. They mostly work in the following two main areas -- teaching English as a foreign language and implementing business-education programs. We target small Russian cities with a population of 50,000-60,000, Melnikov stressed. The US Peace Corps is a governmental organisation, which is financed by the US Congress, and which comprises US citizens wishing to work free of charge in other countries of the world, RIA Novosti reports. Russia is now studying the possibility of establishing a similar organisation. The Russian Education Ministry has taken an interest in this plan, Tim Douglas, who serves as US Peace Corps director for Russia, noted. Peace Corps volunteers have been working in Russia since 1992 and in line with an inter-governmental agreement.