Opportunities for labor migration from Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation are expanding.
From July 1-4, 2024, the members of the delegation representing the Intrud Joint Stock Company held a series of meetings and presentations in Colombo with the support and assistance of the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Sri Lanka, the participation of the Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, the Ministry of Labor of Sri Lanka and relevant departments, testing centers, business representatives, presenting options for attracting Sri Lankan workers on the Russian labor market. Meetings were held with Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Sri Lanka & Maldives, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Private Secretary to the Hon.Minister, Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency (PVT) Ltd., Secretary of Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, Director General (Special Projects) in Presidential Secretariat, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation/ Director of the Russian House in Colombo, Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka, The Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka, Summit Lanka (PVT) Ltd., Maxims Overseas Holdings(Pvt) Limited, CST Resources (Pvt) Ltd, Sisara (Pvt) Ltd, etc.

The company is acting in line with federal objectives to reduce the labor shortage, which the President of the Russian Federation estimates at 2.5 million people. According to the latest data, in 2023, the Russian labor market was in need of 1.8 million construction specialists, 400 thousand workers for the textile industry and 300 thousand specialists in agriculture.
For Sri Lankan employees, an organized set is offered with a comprehensive package of services, including work skills testing, Russian language training and testing, medical care, life insurance, as well as linguistic, legal, communication and organizational support in government agencies.
Russian language proficiency test will be conducted within the framework of an educational joint project of JSC Intrud and the Russian Cultural Center in the Russian House in Colombo.

Intrud Joint Stock Company aims to select, train and hire about 1,000 Sri Lankan specialists in Russia in 2024, with a further increase in the quota to several thousand by 2025. As a matter of priority, Sri Lankan specialists will be involved in textile, food production, FMCG as well as in the agro-industrial complex of the southern regions of Russia.

We are convinced that this project will contribute to strengthening bilateral relations between our countries and will have a positive impact on the development of economic cooperation, meeting the interests of both the Russian Federation and Sri Lanka. Overall, the trip was extremely useful, as it allowed us to establish important contacts, identify key areas of cooperation and lay the foundation for further development of joint projects.

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On 5 July 2024, INTRUD and Gazpromneft's PROFESSIONALS 4.0 division organised a business breakfast in Moscow dedicated to the latest issues in attracting personnel from visa countries to Russia.

The event gathered representatives of leading Russian companies: Sibur, Samolet Development, PIK, OZON, Cherkizovo and others.

The main topics of discussion included:

1 Obtaining quotas for hiring foreign employees: Participants noted that the process of obtaining quotas remains complex and labour-intensive. Suggestions and recommendations for simplifying the procedure were collected, including ideas for shortening the timeframe for processing applications.
2 Passing the Russian language and Russian history exam: One of the main barriers for foreign employees is passing the Russian language exam. Ways to optimise the preparation and passing of the exam were discussed, as well as the possibility of creating specialised language courses for foreign employees.
3 Staff adaptation. The participants shared successful practices of adaptation of foreign employees, emphasising the importance of cultural integration and professional support.
Outcomes of the event: Participants expressed confidence in the need for further dialogue between business and government agencies to create more favourable conditions for labour migration and to hold similar meetings on a regular basis

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On the 5th of June at SPIEF-2024, Irina Baranova, General Director of Intrud, at the invitation of the Moscow City Government, spoke on the topic "Human Resources Shortage in Russia" in the panel discussion "DYNAMICS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN RUSSIA AND INDIA: KEY TO SUSTAINABLE GROWTH". Using India as an example, Irina spoke about the specifics of organised recruitment of foreign labour force (FLF) from India to Russia for AGC, industry and construction.
Irina Baranova also took part in a panel discussion at Gazprom Neft, which was dedicated to the discussion "Utilising the HR potential of BRICS countries for the development of the Russian economy". The discussion was attended by representatives of business and government, represented by Dmitry Platygin - Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation. There was an active discussion of complex issues such as the long timeframes and complexity of quotas, as well as preparation for the mandatory Russian language exam. It was discussed that the acute shortage of labour force in Russia can be compensated by labour migrants from visa countries and for this purpose it is possible to use the Private Employment Agency, which brings and controls the legitimisation of foreign citizens from non-CIS countries within the framework of organised recruitment.

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The themeof the conference was ‘Adapting HR to a Changing World’. After a welcomeaddress from Barry Sheridan, a member of AmCham's Board of Directors, panelsessions were held on legal and administrative aspects of labour regulation,innovation and strategy.

ElenaVelyaeva, Intrud's Operations Director, gave an up-to-date overview of ‘Staffshortages and attraction of foreign labour from non-CIS countries’.

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