Russian minister says economy cannot grow without migrant labour

Russia will find it difficult to sustain economic growth without migrant labour, the country’s economic development minister has said.

Speaking at the “Alpha Summit”, Maxim Reshetnikov said Russia would struggle to ensure continued growth in the absence of migration, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

“Whatever the case, without migration it will probably be difficult for us to ensure economic growth,” he said.

However, Reshetnikov stressed that Russia needed “reasonable” migration in limited volumes. He said designing an effective system to attract and retain the required specialists remained a major challenge amid global competition for talent.

His comments come amid an ongoing debate within Russia’s political establishment over labour shortages and migration policy.

Earlier, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called for addressing labour shortages without relying on migrant workers.

He argued that foreign labour could not be considered cheap and urged a focus on improving productivity and raising the prestige of skilled professions instead of expanding migrant inflows.

By Aghakazim Guliyev