Consequences of the “SVO”: Putin decides to agree with Modi on massive import of workers from India due to population decline
10 November 13:11
Russia is going to sign a labor agreement with India, The Economic Times reports, "Komersant Ukrainian".
The document will be signed at a summit in New Delhi in December, where Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is expected to attend. Russia is seeking to fill the shortage of foreign workers due to the decline in its own population. According to the newspaper’s sources, Indians are mostly hired in sectors such as construction and textiles, but the growing demand for skilled workers in the engineering and electronics industries is opening up new opportunities for migration.
Last week, the labor ministers of both countries, Mansukh Mandavia and Anton Kotyakov, discussed in Doha the issue of attracting Indian labor to Russia. In 2025, 71.8 thousand places out of the total quota of 234.9 thousand for foreign specialists will be allocated for such labor migrants.
According to FSB statistics, over the past five years, Indian citizens have become 22 times more likely to come to Russia for employment. While in 2020 there were 813 such entries, in 2025 there were more than 17,700. The main regions where Indians go: Moscow, St. Petersburg, as well as Saratov, Ulyanovsk, and Rostov regions. The greatest need for foreign workers is in the construction sector, industry, and agriculture.
a “huge plus” for Indians is that they cannot change employers once they have signed a contract, as well as lower salary requirements compared to Central Asians. However, so far, this is “not a super successful case,” including because Indians do not speak Russian.
Kateryna Lobacheva, president of X5, said that the retailer employs Indians in distribution centers. However, she also emphasized that there are “many nuances” in working with these citizens, including “basic language and cultural differences,” so for now such hiring is being conducted in a test mode.
In June, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs proposed opening vocational education institutions in India to train workers for the Russian Federation right there. The idea was supported by Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov and he promised to work on its implementation together with the Foreign Ministry.
