Measures are underway to transfer migrants returning from Russia to 18 countries

The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine on Ukrainian territory is affecting not only the two countries, but also the whole world.  Problems with the devaluation of the Russian ruble and currency exchange have not spared Uzbek migrant workers in Russia either. It has impacted the monthly wages and remittances of migrants.

Uzbekistan is currently considering the possibility of signing inter-governmental and inter-departmental agreements with 18 countries to expand the geography of labor migration. Afzal Irmatov, head of the Agency of Foreign Labor Migration, announced this yesterday, 5 April, at a press conference at the Information and Mass Communications Agency.

It is noted the possibilities of signing inter-governmental and inter-departmental agreements with the 18 countries such as Canada, France, Latvia, Finland, Israel, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Bahrain, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Poland, and Singapore in order to expand the geography of labor migration are being considered at present.

Draft Cooperation Agreements submitted to the competent authorities of Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Azerbaijan are also being reviewed by the relevant state bodies of these countries.

According to the reports, cooperation agreements on the employment of Uzbek citizens are underway with employers from Canada, Finland, France, Latvia, and Poland.

In addition, in order to send Uzbek specialists for temporary work in developed countries, more than 30 cooperation agreements on organizational employment of Uzbekistan citizens have been signed with authorized enterprises in Switzerland, Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Israel, Poland, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Finland, the Netherlands, and Japan.

For reference, in the first quarter of 2022, 3,522 people have been employed abroad. Of these, 2,183 have been sent to the Russian Federation, 44 to the Republic of Kazakhstan and 1,293 to South Korea and other countries.

It should be remembered that the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev gave instructions to involve migrant workers returning from abroad in construction projects at a video-conference on this topic yesterday. He also instructed all governors to take steps to provide official employment for an additional 100,000 people.