Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Friday took issue with the city labor and employment department for submitting a request to invite more than a thousand Chinese nationals to work in the Russian capital.
The labor department asked the federal authorities to allow the employment of 1,146 Chinese nationals in the city. A decision on the request has not yet been taken.
"I would like to know who has given you the right to submit such requests on behalf of the [city] government without notifying anybody?" he asked department chief Oleg Neterebsky.
Neterebsky said Chinese nationals are allowed to come to Russia to work in Oriental medical centers and Chinese restaurants, but Sobyanin said that too many were illegally taking positions in the accountancy and engineering sectors that could and should be filled by Russians.
The mayor ordered the department to post on its website complete data on migrant labor in Moscow no later than Saturday in a bid to make the city's migration policies more transparent.
"I have nothing against migrants - the city needs them. I just want to understand what kind of specialists are needed and in what areas," he said.
RIA Novosti
