APK RF: Impossible without migrants?

On April 30, a decree was signed at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation to expand the number of jobs for labor immigrants who receive jobs and work permits on the basis of visas in different regions of RUSSIA.

In total, in 2021, it is planned to allocate 1,909 additional jobs for foreign citizens in 7 Federal Districts of Russia. The quota reserve has been reduced from 10,188 seats to 8,279.

The main areas in which foreign specialists are attracted in most regions with increased quotas are vegetable growing and animal husbandry.

The main country from which foreign specialists arrive to carry out activities in the agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation is the People's Republic of CHINA.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Agriculture of Udmurtia stated that the Interdepartmental Commission from among the representatives of the interested federal executive authorities considers the need of each constituent entity of the Russian Federation to attract foreign workers and decides on approval in full, rejection in full or in part of the application. Also, if inaccuracies are identified, the application is sent for revision.

The ministry recalled that today the quota for issuing work permits for foreign citizens arriving in the Russian Federation on the basis of a visa for the Udmurt Republic is 19 people.

At the same time, the department reported that applications from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Udmurt Republic, institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Udmurt Republic, as well as from agricultural producers to the Interdepartmental Commission of the Udmurt Republic on attracting and using foreign workers were not submitted.

The Agency for Labor and Employment of the Sakhalin Region said that for 2021 in the region, the approved quota for attracting foreign workers from far abroad is 490 work permits, of which 11% are in the field of agriculture.

- There is no significant increase in the quota in agriculture. So, in 2021, the quota in the field of agriculture is 54 permits, in 2020 - 43 permits, which is almost 3 times less than the 2019 quota - 147 permits. Foreign workers carry out labor activities on the basis of work permits in agriculture in the following professions: vegetable grower, livestock breeder and poultry breeder. The country of origin of these foreign workers is China , the department said.

The Agency added that the need to attract foreign workers is due to the lack of sufficient local labor resources with the necessary qualifications for the declared professions.

- In 2021, the number of vacancies announced by enterprises engaged in economic activities in the field of agriculture is 3.5 times higher than the number of citizens who applied to the employment centers of the Sakhalin Region in order to find work for citizens with the appropriate qualifications. It is currently not possible to fully satisfy the need of employers for workers in the declared professions, taking into account the requirements for applicants, the department said.

According to a representative of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Trans-Baikal Territory, the approved number of foreign labor (+29 people) in the region concerns the construction industry and the scope of catering organizations.

- For the current period of time, there is a need to attract foreign specialists in construction specialties in order to prevent failure to meet the deadlines for the commissioning of facilities and to support the sustainable development of the construction sector in the region as efficiently as possible. Basically, foreign labor is used in the construction industry, mining, agriculture and manufacturing industries, the department said.

The ministry confirmed that the majority of foreign specialists also come from the People's Republic of China.

The representative of the department noted that when preparing proposals for issuing permits to foreign citizens in the Trans-Baikal Territory, first of all, the inexpediency of attracting foreign workers in those professions, positions and specialties that should be and can be replaced by citizens of the Russian Federation is considered.

- From the beginning of 2021 to May 17, 2021, employers announced the presence of vacancies in the amount of 33,813 units in the departments of the State Institution "Regional Employment Center" of the Trans-Baikal Territory. Taking into account the filling of vacancies, the need for workers as of May 17 of this year, including the declared need for foreign labor, amounted to 17,039 jobs, including 9,527 vacancies for organizations that attract foreign labor. For the purpose of priority employment, the employment service sent 33 Russian citizens to the vacancies declared for foreign specialists: a cook, a car driver, a road worker, a concrete worker, a bulldozer driver, an enterprise DIRECTOR, a steel roofer, a painter, a loading machine operator and others, - said in department.

The representative of the Ministry of Labor of the Trans-Baikal Territory noted that the replacement of labor migrants is carried out at the expense of regional labor resources through the training or retraining of unemployed citizens.

According to him, this year, in the direction of the employment authorities in the region, vocational training and additional professional education are planned for at least 600 unemployed citizens, as well as 400 citizens in need of state social assistance on the basis of a social contract.

At the same time, for example, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Omsk Region noted that the department has no information that Chinese citizens come to the region in order to engage in vegetable growing. Although, the ministry added, HE and secondary vocational education in the Omsk region do not teach the profession of vegetable growing, so there are no graduates in this area in the region. 

As you can see, despite the reduction in the total number of quotas for foreign citizens to work in Russia, their number in certain regions is growing. Moreover, mainly our friendly neighbors, citizens of China , come to our country .

Note that quotas are increasing precisely in the regions bordering the Celestial Empire. Whether this speaks of the gradual seizure of our eastern territories is difficult to say.   

Digitalization will accelerate the recovery of agriculture after the covid-19 crisis

You can talk as much as you like about closing borders for labor immigrants, not only from China, but also from other countries, but the problem is completely different. If we cannot cope with vegetable and livestock production on our own, then by reducing the quotas for the work of foreigners, we will only exacerbate the problem.

So, maybe it's worth starting with yourself and doing something with the education of farmers in our country? Moreover, not only representatives of the industry are already complaining about them, but, as we see, even the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Labor.