Ukraine’s bid to hire Bangladeshi workers gets a firm no from Dhaka

War-torn Ukraine has expressed interest in hiring Bangladeshi workers, particularly for a furniture factory, but Bangladesh has declined the offer, citing security risks.

Ukrainian media reports indicate that a furniture company in Zakarpattia Oblast is looking to recruit 160 Bangladeshi workers due to a labour shortage.

Local Governor Myroslav Biletskyi announced the development on 25 January.

According to The New Voice of Ukraine, Lamella State Enterprise, based in the Tyachivska urban territorial community, is in talks with Ukraine's Foreign Ministry to hire the workers under employment contracts.

However, the Bangladesh embassy in Poland, which oversees Ukraine-related matters, has refused to approve the recruitment proposal.  

Kazi M Murshed, Counsellor and Head of Chancery at the Bangladesh embassy in Poland, told The Business Standard over the phone, "A Ukrainian recruitment agency contacted us. As the situation in Ukraine is not normal, we did not agree to send workers there.

He added that a Bangladeshi private recruiting agency later applied to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) for permission to send eight workers to Ukraine.

"When BMET contacted us about this on 9 December, we did not give our consent," he said.  

"Earlier, it was reported in the media that Indian and North Korean people were joining the Russian forces. In such a situation, we do not know what will happen if our citizens go to Ukraine. We are more worried about the safety of our citizens," he added.

Bangladesh Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam told TBS that he will provide more details once the job placements are confirmed.

It is to be noted that in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Bangladeshis left the country.

Before the war, more than 1,500 Bangladeshis lived in Ukraine, but over 1,000 were evacuated with the assistance of the Bangladesh embassy in Poland.

Currently, at least 40 Bangladeshis remain, mostly in Kyiv, according to the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry.

Labour shortage in Ukraine

Governor Biletskyi stated that Lamella State Enterprise, which has operated since 2001, was launched as a small furniture component workshop but has since expanded into a major manufacturer exporting to European markets.

The factory currently employs 430 people, but with production expansion, it requires 700 workers.  

"Businesses that have created the necessary conditions, purchased equipment and procured materials are now facing an acute shortage of workers," he said.  

The company is offering a social benefits package that includes free meals, transportation within a 50 km radius and an average monthly salary of 25,000 Ukrainian currency-UAH (around $600).  

However, some Ukrainian officials have raised concerns about hiring foreign workers instead of utilising local manpower, according to local media reports.

Oleh Popenko, head of the Union of Utilities Consumers, noted that "hundreds of thousands" of refugees and internally displaced persons in Ukraine "have no jobs and are on the brink of biological survival."

The employment service defended its efforts, stating that it had helped employ more than 250,000 people in the past year, including 42,000 internally displaced persons.  

Andriy Yanytskyi, head of the communications department at the State Employment Service, explained that unemployment in Ukraine is rapidly turning into a labour crisis due to millions of people either fighting in the war or having left the country. "Labour migration is therefore inevitable," he said.  

Bangladesh's expanding labour market in Russia

Meanwhile, Bangladesh is exploring new employment opportunities in Russia.

On 19 January, Alexander Khozin, the Russian Ambassador in Bangladesh, met Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain to discuss the hiring of Bangladeshi workers.

Since 2022, Russia has recruited shipbuilders, construction workers and hospitality and transportation staff from Bangladesh through the state-owned Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL).  

Russia, a relatively new market for Bangladeshi workers, is emerging as a promising destination due to shifts in global employment demands caused by the war in Ukraine.