Coronavirus Restrictions Threaten Agriculture and Construction in Russian Far East

Paul Goble

            Staunton, March 31 – The closing of the border with China as a result of the coronavirus threatens to leave agriculture and construction in the Far Eastern Federal District without the workers these sectors need in the relatively short period of the year in which temperatures are warm enough there for work to be done, Konstantin Mikhailov of the EastRussia portal says.

            Russian farms and construction projects there had already been in trouble because of the restrictions imposed on North Korean workers already two years ago as a result of sanctions, he says. But the impact of closing the border to China threatens to be far larger (eastrussia.ru/material/unesennye-koronavirusom-dfo-riskuet-ostatsya-bez-rabochikh/).

                One of the largest and most high visibility projects to be hit, Mikhail says, are the projects announced for the modernization of 40 airports in the FD. Without Chinese workers, these projects will be severely hampered or even stopped altogether. Some Chinese have been unable to return home and are still working but far fewer than needed.

            Russian firms and farms are seeking to find workers from elsewhere to replace the Chinese. Some are coming from Central Asia – more than 100,000 workers arrived from Uzbekistan last year and more are expected this – and additional but smaller numbers from other CIS and Eurasian Economic Community countries.

            But like the Chinese, they create problems given the hostility they often encounter from local people, and attracting them to this distant region is not easy either. However, there simply aren’t enough Russian workers there to man the construction projects or work the farms. And without an infusion, production will drop.

            In a few sectors, the departure of the Chinese has already stopped production: In Vladivostok, Mikhailov reports, the Chinese have long dominated the concrete industry; and there aren’t any replacements. Attracting people from European Russia or Asian countries other than China won’t be easy and will certainly be costly.

            And even in the shipbuilding industry, the departure of the Chinese workers is having a depressing effect, delaying projects and raising prices far beyond what had been planned.  Managers are scrambling so that they do not have to shut the yards and further raise unemployment in the area.