By Anastasia Lyrchikova and Lucy Papachristou
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The governor of a Russian region has lifted a ban on migrant workers in the construction industry just over a week after it was announced, following outcry by steel giant Severstal that the restrictions would harm industry.
An explanatory note to the decree retracting the ban, signed by Governor Georgy Filimonov on Thursday, said an analysis of employment vacancies in the Vologda region northwest of Moscow had found there were not enough working-age Russian citizens to fill all the open jobs.
The reversal by lawmakers comes after Severstal, a major employer in the region, slammed the ban in a rare public clash between politicians and major business interests, exposing tensions in Russia as its economy struggles with a widespread shortage of labour.
Unemployment in Russia stands at 2.4%, near a record low, as heavy recruitment by the armed forces and defence industries has siphoned workers away from civilian enterprises, while hundreds of thousands of Russians have left the country since President Vladimir Putin sent his army into Ukraine in 2022.
Russia has traditionally relied on migrant labour, mostly from Central Asia, to plug employment gaps and grow its economy.
But some of those workers, who number roughly 6 million in the country, have described growing hostility towards them in Russia since Islamist militants from Tajikistan killed 145 people at a concert venue near Moscow last year.
Filimonov did not state the grounds for the migrant ban, but has publicly questioned why businesses cannot recruit local workers.
A spokesperson for Severstal said the company needs to hire at least 2,168 workers before 2027 for the new iron ore factory in Cherepovets, a major city, where it intends to invest over 120 billion roubles ($1.35 billion) this year.
After the ban went into effect, the company posted a recruitment notice for 600 vacancies in the Vologda region alone.
($1 = 88.9000 roubles)
(This story has been refiled to remove an erroneous full stop in paragraph 9)
(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
