Author: Tatyana Gracheva
Small businesses in Ukraine have no plans to expand this year.
The Small Business Sentiment Index in Ukraine in 2025 remained at 2.3 out of 5, indicating restrained, mostly cautious expectations among entrepreneurs. According to the survey, approximately 30% of respondents consider the state of business to be “rather unsatisfactory”, while around 20% assess it as satisfactory or good. At the same time, 17-18% of entrepreneurs […]
Read moreUzbekistan and Serbia eye deeper ties across key sectors
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met on Wednesday with Serbia’s Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing UzA. The high-ranking guest delivered warm greetings and best wishes from the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to the President of Uzbekistan. The parties discussed prospects for strengthening broad cooperation between the two countries in line with […]
Read moreKazakhstan Plans New Measures to Attract Highly Skilled Foreign Workers
Kazakhstan is preparing to introduce new mechanisms to attract highly qualified foreign specialists as part of a broader effort to increase the country’s openness to talent, investors, and entrepreneurs. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has drafted amendments to the country’s migration legislation following a presidential decree aimed at modernizing migration policy and addressing […]
Read moreAs Geostat reports, unemployment rate in Georgia remains at 13.9% in 2025
According to Geostat’s report, Georgia’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in 2025 (13.9%) compared to the previous year.
As official statistics show, both employment and the labor force — people actively seeking work — declined last year.
A decrease of the labor force participation rate by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year to 54.5% was shown by Geostat data. Meanwhile the employment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 46.9%.
The regions of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Kvemo Kartli, and Guria showed the sharpest decline in unemployment (a downfall by 3.1, 2.9, and 2 percentage points respectively).
The highest unemployment rate in the country (17.5%) was in Tbilisi.
Also, the unemployment rate among men is higher than among women.
Among age groups, unemployment was highest among people aged 15-19 (39%), while the lowest rate was recorded among people aged 65 and older (3.5%). Geostat links this data to low economic activity in that age group.
Nearly 1.4 million people were employed in Georgia in 2025, including 961,000 hired employees and 426,000 self-employed individuals. Meanwhile, 224,000 people were unemployed.
The total labor force in Georgia counted approximately 1.6 million people last year.
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Read moreKazakhstan wants to attract highly skilled foreign workers
Kazakhstan is taking effort to increase the country’s openness to talent, investors, and entrepreneurs. For this, the country introduces new mechanisms to attract highly qualified foreign specialists.
For example, amendments to the country’s migration legislation The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection have been drafted, following a presidential decree aimed at modernizing migration policy and addressing labor shortages.
One of the measures is a targeted recruitment system for in-demand foreign specialists based on the current needs of the domestic labor market.
Also, the creation of a government-approved list of priority professions is a key element of the reform. It will include specialists in information technology, healthcare, education, the nuclear industry, energy, biotechnology, genomic medicine, water management, irrigation, and culture. It total, it will include in-demand professions from 51 to 174 specialisms.
They will also establish clearer and more transparent procedures for hiring foreign professionals at the request of employers.
Improvement of conditions for foreign specialists working and living in Kazakhstan is an important issue. Authorities are planning to expand the Altyn (Golden) Visa program.
The proposed changes will let foreign specialists apply for resident status after a specified period of employment in Kazakhstan. They will also get access to tax incentives, financial services, healthcare and education opportunities. New program gives foreign specialists the right to work outside the country’s foreign labor quota system.
According to the previous report of The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan had approved its 2026 quota for foreign labor at 0.25% of the country’s total workforce.
Permits for 726 senior executives and deputies, 3,402 heads of structural divisions, 5,893 specialists, and 3,131 skilled workers are included in it. Seasonal labor got additional 4,994 permits.
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Read moreUnemployment rate in Georgia remains at 13.9% in 2025, Geostat reports
Georgia’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in 2025 compared to the previous year and stood at 13.9%, Geostat reports. Official statistics show that both employment and the labor force — people actively seeking work — declined last year. Geostat data shows the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year to 54.5%, while the […]
Read moreBusiness associations are calling on the Verkhovna Rada to abolish the EUR 150 duty-free threshold for imported parcels.
Business organizations in Ukraine are urging members of parliament to urgently adopt draft law No. 15112-1, which would abolish the value-added tax (VAT) exemption on international parcels valued up to EUR 150. “Abolishing this exemption is a requirement of European integration. The EU abandoned similar rules back in 2021, recognizing them as a source of […]
Read moreFines of up to 100,000 dinars for traders’ violations under new regulations
The National Assembly of Serbia has adopted amendments to the Law on Trade. The new regulations will come into force on 1 May 2026. One of the amendments concerns purchasing points, which for the first time receive a separate regulatory framework. These are defined as a specialised form of wholesale trade intended for the purchase […]
Read moreSevere labor shortage affects Kazakhstan’s SMEs
A joint report by Mastercard and KPMG claims that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kazakhstan have become one of the country’s main sources of employment. Nevertheless, they are facing a severe labor shortage.
According to the report, workforce shortage is one of the most pressing challenges for SMEs. It means that nearly half of businesses report staffing deficits acute. Experts cite the limited supply of qualified specialists and their high cost among the main reasons of the problem.
As the report explains, SME executives complain about the difficulty of finding qualified employees, especially production managers. It often happens that interviewed candidates do not meet requirements. Another problem is that staff lack the motivation for development, even though salaries are high and working conditions are good. It needs an increased number of skilled employees to scale up the business. Meanwhile, limited financial resources and labor shortages constrain it.
Nevertheless, 90% of surveyed business leaders complain about high salary expectations from potential employees, which smaller firms struggle to meet. Also, nearly 70% of respondents consider SMEs as less prestigious places to work.
Concerning labor productivity, in micro and small businesses it remains more than twice as low as in medium and large enterprises. Data show that a worker generated an average of about $10,100 in a small business in 2025, compared with $34,300 in medium-sized firms. This year the gap continues to widen.
Generally, major constraints for SMEs are limited access to financing and the high cost of borrowing.
An unstable tax and regulatory environment, as well as broader macroeconomic volatility are additional factors hindering SME development.
Nevertheless, SMEs are a key source of employment in Kazakhstan, in spite of these challenges. As an example, employment in the sector has demonstrated a growth of the workforce from 40% to 50% over the past five years. At present, SMEs employ nearly 4.7 million people out of 9.3 million employed nationwide. That means that roughly one in two workers is employed in this segment.
As the report shows, an average annual rate of SME employment growth is 6%. Meanwhile, the decline of employment in other sectors is about 3% per year.
The report notes that the concentration of employment in SMEs makes the labor market vulnerable to tax and regulatory changes. Also, negative shocks in the sector could directly cause rising unemployment.
According to the data previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, about 40% of Kazakhstan’s GDP currently account for SMEs. This figure is still below benchmark countries such as Turkey (41%), the United States (44%), and Uzbekistan (52%).
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Read moreKazakhstan’s SMEs Face Severe Labor Shortage
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kazakhstan have become one of the country’s main sources of employment, but are facing a severe labor shortage, according to a joint report by Mastercard and KPMG. The report identifies workforce shortages as one of the most pressing challenges for SMEs, with nearly half of businesses reporting acute staffing […]
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