First round of talks on Employment Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russian Federation



As a member of the BiH delegation, Mr. Željko Rajić, Deputy Director of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, took part in the first round of talks on the mutual Employment Agreement between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of the Russian Federation which will regulate the employment procedure, rights and obligations of BiH workers in the Russian Federation, as well as of Russian citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  

The provisions of the Agreement have been defined for the most part during the mentioned talks. They will create the basis for employment via competent institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Russian Federation which has not been the case so far when workers were recruited through private companies and different mediation procedures and the states had no relevant data on mutual labour exchange.

The fact that the Russian Federation issued 2,929 work permits to the nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012 is enough to illustrate the interest for workers from BiH in the Russian Federation.  The plan is to increase the quota to 4,000 next year with the possibility of modifications.  

Workers from BiH have largely been recruited for construction of sports facilities at Sochi, where the upcoming Winter Olympics will be held in a couple of months.  There is also a high demand for labour for the World Football Cup and construction of the New Moscow.  

The next round of talks should be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina soon.

On 06 December 2012 the delegation paid a visit to the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Russian Federation where the delegation members talked to His Excellency, the Ambassador Ivan Barbalić and his colleagues.  They provided information about large interest of BiH employers operating in the Russian Federation and of Russian employers for BiH workers, notably in construction industry.   The representatives of the BiH Embassy also talked about their positive experiences with workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina stressing that good existing relations between the two countries was yet another  reason to negotiate the mutual employment agreement.