Moscow: Moscow has identified India among 21 others as a country posing a "threat of illegal immigration" for Russia and has tightened Visa rules for the Indians.

According to influential business daily 'Kommersamt', along with India, 20 more countries including all the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co- operation) member states, Afghanistan, China and Turkey have been put on Russia's blacklist and from now on, all Visa applications of their citizens would have to be cleared by the FSB (Federal Security Service), an equivalent of the American FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation).

There was no official confirmation of the report.

The new Russian rules are going to badly hit Indian multinationals and fairly large NRI (Non-Resident Indian) business in Russia, as their owners and employers settled and posted in third countries would have to go back to India every time for getting Russian Visa.

"Russia has already refused Visa for our Thailand-based officer, who was told to fly all the way to Mumbai and to get it from the local Russian Consulate," CIS manager of a London-based NRI-owned company, Yogender Nagpal, said.

"My boss frequently flies in and out of Moscow on business trips, as we own one of the largest home depots here. Now every time for the renewal of his Russian Visa he would have to waste a lot of time commuting to India," Nagpal complained.

Almost all the Indian-owned companies in Russia are facing similar problems.

PTI