Some EU countries need tens of thousands of labor migrants from Ukraine – Prystaiko

Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko has said some EU countries this year require tens of thousands of seasonal labor migrants from Ukraine.

"We are aware of the numbers. They range from hundreds to tens of thousands of people," Prystaiko told Deutsche Welle's Ukrainian service in an interview.

For example, Finland alone needs from 12,000 to 15,000 Ukrainian workers this year, mainly for agricultural work, which will last there until August.

"Speaking about Finland, it's from 12,000 to 15,000 people for the entire period until August. A total of 802 people are scheduled for Austria, for sure," Prystaiko said.

At the same time, there are no data on other EU countries, he said.

"Some countries do not have such an exact figure." "As for Germany, it's hard to say because of its federal structure. Each federal state invites people in their own way. In the Czech Republic, our employees are the largest ethnic group," the official said.

Meanwhile, Prystaiko said flights carrying seasonal workers had already arrived "in London, Helsinki, and Germany."

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He added similar arrangements were being made with other countries. "We spoke not only with EU countries. For example, there is an agreement on a certain number of workers to be sent to Israel." However, Prystaiko did not specify how many Ukrainian labor migrants were required by Israeli employers.

At the same time, the vice PM assured that in no way does Ukrainian government interfere with the process of hiring employees by foreign employers. According to him, this issue "depends primarily on employers in those countries" where Ukrainians work.

"The Government of Ukraine does not restrict [the process of employment]. We are only trying to bring some kind of coordination to this process," Prystaiko said.

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He is also confident the Ukrainian government does not vet those who are going to go to work abroad.

"We don't check contracts, we neither help nor hinder their contracts. We don't ask what people are going to do, we don't check how much they are paid," the vice prime minister said.