Uzbekistan is turning off the counter of migrants – Newspaper Kommersant No. 210 (7411) of 11/14/2022

The government has published a decree significantly changing the implementation of a pilot project to attract citizens of Uzbekistan to the Russian labor market. This is due to a shortage of personnel, which has intensified due to partial mobilization. In particular, quantitative restrictions have been lifted for the “pilot” – until now, the number of labor migrants from Uzbekistan should not exceed 11 thousand people in construction and the agro-industrial complex. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will become a new participant in the project – it will now maintain its own register of employers from the light industry who have received the right to such employment. Medical requirements for those entering the country are also being reduced – instead of a mandatory test for coronavirus or vaccination, they will only need to undergo a medical examination by Russian doctors in Uzbekistan, employers will pay for its organization.

The head of the White House, Mikhail Mishustin, signed government decree No. 2035 dated November 10, 2022, significantly changing the parameters of the pilot project launched at the end of 2021 for the targeted recruitment of labor migrants from Uzbekistan for the needs of the Russian construction sector and the agro-industrial complex (see “Kommersant” dated October 20, 2021 of the year). Initially a “niche” project, it has now been significantly expanded. It includes the Ministry of Industry and Trade among the participants of the “pilot”, which means the possibility of hiring citizens of Uzbekistan at Russian industrial enterprises, and also removes restrictions on the number of labor migrants from this country: for this, the new resolution cancels the points made in the original document on the “pilot” (paragraph . No. 1694 of October 6, 2021) in February 2022 (clause No. 122 of February 5, 2022), they limited the “ceiling” of such imports at the level of 10 thousand people in the construction industry and 1.1 thousand people in APK. The White House document does not introduce new numerical restrictions.

Inclusion in the “pilot” of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is described by the resolution as the possibility of hiring workers from Uzbekistan by “Russian legal entities engaged in economic activities in the light industry, included in the list formed by the ministry.” It should be noted that this focus confirms the record shortage of personnel in the light industry identified by the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy after the start of “partial mobilization” in connection with the military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine (see Kommersant on November 11). If in the industry as a whole the balance of estimates of personnel adequacy in October turned out to be in a “deep minus” (minus 30%), then, as the authors of the report point out, at light industry enterprises it amounted to minus 70%, twice as bad as in mechanical engineering (minus 35%). %). In order for employers from the light industry to be able to close this deficit, they need to conclude agreements with the Ministry of Industry and Trade obliging them to report on such workers and pay state expenses related to their “targeted” entry into the Russian Federation.

The government decree also changes the medical procedure for the entry of Uzbek labor migrants into Russia. If previously they were required to test negative for coronavirus, vaccinate with Sputnik-Light or “other vaccines registered in the Russian Federation”, or confirm they had COVID-19 (in this case, the 14-day quarantine was canceled for them), now the vaccination requirement has been abolished, and for entry (in addition to the saved requirements for obtaining a patent – employers pay for its issuance), a medical examination is required by Russian doctors who are sent to Uzbekistan by the FMBA (their work is also paid by potential employers).

It should be noted that the very idea of ​​abandoning the special quota for the “pilot” was discussed in the government since the spring – then this, in particular, was sought by the Ministry of Agriculture, which declared the need for 38 thousand additional seasonal workers only in the agro-industrial complex (see “Kommersant” dated May 25 ). In the draft resolution prepared by the Ministry of Labor at the time, it was proposed to abandon industry specifics, in fact, extending the project to the entire economy of the Russian Federation, but the document was not signed in this edition.

Oleg Sapozhkov