MOSCOW (Reuters) - A shortage of around 200,000 foreign construction workers in Moscow is contributing to higher house prices, the Izvestia daily quoted Deputy Mayor Vladimir Yefimov as saying in an interview on Monday.
The Russian capital uses cheaper migrant labour, typically workers from the former Soviet Union countries of central Asia, for construction projects across the city of more than 12 million people.
"We hope that in the near future, restrictions on their entry into the country will be eased," Yefimov said. "The shortage of labour resources is leading to employers, first and foremost real estate developers, buying employees from each other, due to which the cost of their services grows."
Russia imposed wide-ranging travel restrictions at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, many of which remain in force, making cross-border travel a challenge for certain countries' citizens.
House prices in Moscow were stagnant for a few years, Yefimov said, but against the backdrop of the pandemic, the cost of housing has increased, catching up with inflation.