Anti-slavery labor

By November, new rules for a “market” economy should appear in Russia

By November 1, the Russian government plans to prepare at least six regulations aimed at ensuring an optimal balance of labor resources and streamlining trade in the wholesale and retail markets in pursuance of the president’s instructions. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov announced this on Tuesday at a special meeting on the topic in the government. The Ministry of Economic Development will become the coordinator for the creation of new rules of the “market economy”.

The Prime Minister called for a balanced solution to issues related to the regulation of labor migration and in compliance with Russian legislation. “There should be no fever, no campaignism here,” he said. “The relationships that have spontaneously developed in these areas need to be built into a framework of clear rules.”

In particular, according to the head of government, the provisions of the legislative framework must be clear and unambiguously readable. “In essence, this will protect the rights of workers and employers, and will become a means of eradicating crime, which parasitizes on the opacity of labor relations, on the troubles of both our citizens and those who came to the country in search of a better life,” believes Mikhail Fradkov. “This will reduce the number of unhappy, intimidated people, exhausted by slave labor, constantly living in the crime zone, essentially powerless people, this is the goal of our work today.”

At the same time, the head of the cabinet promised to act strictly within the law. “In Russia there is a Constitution and a Labor Code that allow us to solve this problem. We are talking about compliance with the rule of law, there is no need to attribute anything unnecessary to the authorities, we are not going to turn anything on its head,” Mr. Fradkov assured.

All ministries and departments without exception will participate in the preparation of a new package of migration bills, but some will become the leading ones. In particular, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been instructed to prepare a procedure for attracting foreign workers to Russia - a normative act establishing the terms of their continuous stay in the country. The Ministry of Economic Development is responsible for regulating wholesale and retail trade. The department's regulatory document will have to establish responsibility for violating these rules. The Ministry of Health and Social Development will be responsible for the procedure for establishing quotas for foreign workers depending on their profession and qualifications. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been tasked with solving the problem of allocating foreign passports for Russian citizens living abroad.

The Prime Minister called for involving Russian regions in the work. “The main thing is to achieve synchronization of work at the federal, regional and local levels in full compliance with the law,” said Mikhail Fradkov, adding that this work should be supervised by the Ministry of Regional Development. And the overall coordination of work to carry out the president’s instructions, the head of government recalled, is entrusted to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

Ivan GORDEEV