Labour migrants from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries poured into Russia. In the second quarter of the year of earnings, 3.12 million foreigners arrived in the country.
This is a record indicator for the last six years, according to data from the analytical service of the auditor-consulting network FinExpertiza, whose materials were studied in “The Moscow Times”.
Experts call the strengthening of the ruble the reason for the arrival of a record number of labour migrants. “If in the first quarter of 2022 there was an outflow of labour migrants against the background of the sharp collapse of the ruble, then in the second – it was compensated with interest. This was influenced, first of all, by the unexpectedly strong strengthening of the ruble, as a result of which the Russian labour market became more attractive to foreigners, because their earnings in the currency increased”, commented the president of FinExpertiza, Elena Trubnikova.
At the same time, the strong ruble is harming Russia’s neighbours: their currencies have noticeably depreciated against the ruble since the beginning of the year due to the ruble’s limited convertibility and its revaluation against the dollar. Thus, the Kazakh tenge weakened by more than 30%, the Kyrgyz som — by 14%, the Belarusian ruble — by almost 40%, and the Armenian dram — by 20%.
Most migrant workers in Russia come from Uzbekistan (49.6% or 1.54 million people) and Tajikistan (30.5% or 953 thousand people) and Kyrgyzstan (7.2% or 223 thousand people). At the same time, about 40% of migrants stay in Moscow and Moscow Region.
Moscow (841.9 thousand people), Podmoskovye (399.5 thousand people), St. Petersburg and Leningradskaya Oblast (385.7 thousand), Kuban (86, 2 thousand) and Irkutsk region (75.2 thousand).
Earlier, Russia launched a new wave of “migration amnesty” and opened borders for migrants who committed administrative offenses to help the failing economy with cheap labor. The previous similar “amnesty” was in October 2021. Then about 300 thousand people were able to get permission to enter the Russian Federation. In Russia, they were especially waiting for the harvest, the idea of returning foreign workers was actively lobbied by the Russian Potato Union.
SOURCE: News 84
