Kyrgyzstan has filed a lawsuit against Russia in the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), citing Russia’s failure to comply with certain provisions of the agreement on labor migrants in force within the union. Fergana says the move was announced by Azamat Mukanov, Chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s Mandatory Health Insurance Fund.
According to Mukanov, the filing of the claim against the Russian Federation was disclosed during a meeting of the Jogorku Kenesh parliamentary committee on labor, healthcare, women’s affairs, and social issues, held as part of discussions on the draft law “On Citizens’ Medical Insurance.”
Lawmakers raised questions about support measures for Kyrgyz labor migrants working in Russia, including issues related to obtaining insurance policies that would ensure access to guaranteed medical care.
Mukanov noted that the EAEU has an agreement regulating the legal status of migrant workers and their family members. However, he said that Russia is violating Articles 96–98 of the document by refusing to issue mandatory health insurance policies to family members of labor migrants.
“Kyrgyzstan has appealed to the EAEU Court. The proceedings are ongoing, and a decision is expected within two weeks. This issue was also raised during the visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk to the republic,” Mukanov said.
The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union was signed in Astana in 2014 and entered into force on January 1, 2015. The EAEU includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The treaty provides for special employment conditions for citizens of member states.
In particular, citizens of EAEU countries are not required to obtain work patents or special work permits in Russia, employers are exempt from the need to secure permits to hire foreign labor, and educational documents are recognized without apostille certification (with exceptions for certain professions).
Under the protocol on medical care, emergency medical assistance for workers from EAEU member states and their family members is provided free of charge at state and municipal healthcare facilities, regardless of whether they hold an insurance policy.
Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the EAEU has been a hot topic for academics, Kyrgyz officials and public interested to the topic to discuss the risks and opportunities it brings to Kyrgyzstan. The main clashing arguments were labor migration; agricultural sector and financial support from Russia to Kyrgyzstan on the positive side and restrictions on re-export of Chinese products and inflation on the negative side.
Proponents of the accession used mainly the benefits offered by the EAEU such as exemption from paying for work permit regulations and simplified procedure for entering the country and obtaining necessary documents for working legally in Russia.
Opponents, on the other hand, arguing that unified custom regulations of EEU will negatively affect the re-export business in Kyrgyzstan. In addition, the trade barriers are expected to cause inflation and increase the prices of goods especially the food products.
