MOSCOW, March 4 - RAPSI. Russia grants more extraditions than it receives, Sergei Yesipov, department head at the Federal Penitentiary Service, told RIA Novosti.

The official said that the service deals with 1,400 extradition decisions made by the Prosecutor General’s Office per year. Last year, 1,138 criminals were extradited from Russia, while 262 Russians were granted extradition back to Russia.

Yesipov said that the extradition process for nationals of adjacent countries takes place at border checkpoints. If there are no common borders, criminals are turned over to the recipient country at an international airport by prior agreement.

Russia accepts extradited Russian criminals in accordance with the same procedure.

The official told RIA Novosti that the Federal Penitentiary Service cooperates with many countries in this respect. In 2012, Russian nationals were extradited for prosecution in Russia from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, as well as from many other countries further afield, including Germany, Austria, Israel, China, Mongolia, Turkey and Switzerland.