On January 27, Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitization Ihor Diadiura met with Carsten Meyer-Wifhausen, Head of the Consular and Legal Department of the German Embassy in Ukraine, and Frank Müller, First Secretary of the Embassy at the premises of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine. The parties discussed improving cooperation in the employment of Ukrainian workers in Germany, in particular, seasonal workers in agriculture.

The participants of the meeting agreed to consider the possibility of concluding a bilateral interdepartmental agreement on cooperation in the field of employment of citizens of both countries. The text of the draft agreement was handed over by representatives of the German Embassy in Ukraine.

“Germany is one of the countries where labor migration flows from Ukraine are directed the most. That is why it is necessary to streamline this issue and ensure social protection of Ukrainian citizens. The agreement between the relevant departments of Ukraine and Germany will allow to make the employment process more transparent and safer, as well as open new prospects for both Ukrainian workers and German employers,” commented Deputy Minister Ihor Diadiura.

The participants of the meeting agreed to hold consultations to discuss issues of further cooperation and preparation of a relevant draft document.

Background

According to the results of work for 9 months of 2020, 436 licensees provided mediation services and during this period they employed 61.9 thousand citizens of Ukraine abroad. The largest flows of labor migration were observed to Cyprus (12.3 thousand people), Poland (10.1 thousand people), Germany (6.3 thousand people), Great Britain (5.6 thousand people), Greece (4,7 thousand people), Liberia (1.9 thousand people), Panama (1.8 thousand people), Marshall Islands (1.8 thousand people), Belgium (1.6 thousand people), Lithuania 1.5 thousand people), the Netherlands (1.5 thousand people). At the same time, the data of recruitment agencies reflect only a small segment of labor migration of Ukrainian citizens abroad, most of them are employed without the participation of intermediaries.

According to various expert estimates, over 3 million Ukrainian citizens work abroad. A favorable segment of labor migration of Ukrainian citizens abroad is that neighboring European countries (such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany) are purposefully taking measures to simplify the procedure for employment of personnel from Ukraine.