Migrant Workers Continue to Leave Russia in Large Numbers

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 2 – During 2020, the number of migrant workers in Russia fell from 10.3 million to 7.1 million. In the first five months of 2021, their numbers continued to fall and now stand at 5.66 million, according to a study conducted by the Russian Academy of Economics and State Service and the Gaidar Institute (kommersant.ru/doc/4838308).

            The greatest declines during the pandemic period have been among citizens of Ukraine and Moldova whose numbers have fallen by roughly half, 53 percent and 51 percent respectively. Migrant workers from Central Asia and the Caucasus have declined by smaller amounts. But workers from the EU have fallen to their lowest level in the past decade.

            Russian officials today registered 8832 new cases of infection and 394 deaths from the coronavirus, with the greatest increases being in Moscow and St. Petersburg but with spikes at various places across the country forcing officials to extend or reimpose restrictions (t.me/COVID2019_official/3006, regnum.ru/news/society/3287593.html  and regnum.ru/news/society/3277253.html).

            The healthcare ministry officially registered for use a new medication developed by the Federal Medical-Biological Agency that will improve the treatment of those who have become infected with the coronavirus or who have been exposed to it (iz.ru/1172671/2021-06-02/v-rf-zaregistrirovali-preparat-dlia-lecheniia-vyzyvaemoi-koronavirusom-pnevmonii).

            Belarus has approved for use the Russian Sputnik-Lite vaccine, and Vietnam has reached an agreement with Moscow to produce the Sputnik-5 vaccine in that country (regnum.ru/news/3287773.html and regnum.ru/news/3286491.html).

            Scholars from the Higher School of Economics told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that Moscow ranked second only to Singapore among cities of the world in maintaining its economy during the pandemic (polit.ru/article/2021/06/02/moscow/). The scholars praised the combination of restrictions and openings that the city practiced.

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments in Russia today,

·         Fifty-five percent of Russians said they do not fear the coronavirus any more, 24 percent said they had been infected and recovered, but of those, fewer than one in three was officially diagnosed, a Levada Center poll found (levada.ru/2021/06/02/koronavirus-2/).

·         The Moscow Patriarchate reported that 165 of its religious leaders had died after becoming infected with the coronavirus (regnum.ru/news/society/3286644.html).

·         And a Russian medical expert said that the pandemic may reduce life expectancy among Russians who have been infected by up to ten years (rosbalt.ru/piter/2021/06/02/1904696.html).