Experts say whether Moscow construction projects will stop without migrants
Up to 30% of migrants who worked on construction sites left Russia during the quarantine period due to coronavirus. Experts discussed at a press conference in Moscow whether the construction industry can cope without guest workers.
Public Chamber expert Artem Kiryanov explained that the authorities are seeking to return migrants because they are needed to implement large-scale plans within the framework of the national project “Housing and Urban Environment.”
“This could not be critical if such development plans did not exist, and if the situation with mortgage lending did not exist. About five years ago I said that it would be great if the mortgage cost seven percent. Well, today it is lower. There is a proposal to support people who want to build, and this all increases the need for migrants,” said Artem Kiryanov.
In his opinion, in general, the construction situation is not critical, and the outflow of migrants does not contribute to rising housing prices, as some experts claim.
“As for the current situation, I do not see it as critical. I do not really agree with the assessments of experts who say that a decrease in the number of migrant workers will inevitably lead to a significant jump in construction prices and an increase in fees for housing and communal services. I don't agree with this approach.
There is and will be an increase in the cost per square meter, but it will be caused by completely different reasons. This will be caused by mortgage demand, it will also be caused by issues of relations between the developer and the banking system, but it is unlikely that the outflow of labor migrants will play a serious role,” said Artem Kiryanov.
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Sergei Kalashnikov believes that citizens of the Russian Federation can be employed at construction sites.
“Why do we import even though we have our own unemployed? In 2020, unemployment more than doubled,” the deputy said.
He urged businesses not to save money by attracting migrants.
“I will probably greatly surprise our fellow citizens if I say that the share of wages in the final price of products in the Russian Federation ranges from 7 to 15 percent. Not 50-70 but 7-15! What is glaringly different is that we believe that we are well paid in basic industries. They pay well there, but the share of wages in basic industries is only 5-11 percent of the final price of the product. That is, in a ton of oil, the price of labor is significantly less than the price of this oil. This is actually called exploitation.
Without solving this issue, it is simply not possible to talk about reasonable demographic policy, reasonable migration policy, and, of course, about improving the quality of life of people and the fight against poverty,” the parliamentarian said.
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