Category: Author’s post

Amended tax code to annul tax debts of 145,842 individuals is approved by Parliament

Amendments into the tax code of the country that will write off tax debts totalling ₾591 million ($221.53mln) for 145,842 individuals and establish temporary tax reliefs for certain transactions were approved by the Parliament of Georgia on Wednesday.
According to Paata Kvizhinadze, the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, they will fully write off the recognized tax debts incurred and unpaid before January 1, 2021 of all private entities, including individual entrepreneurs.
Tax reliefs for transfer of ownership rights to Georgian enterprises for all assets of foreign enterprises registered in the country with preferential taxation until January 1, 2028 are also established by the amended code.
As the legislative body said, the relevant operations would be exempted from profit, income and property taxes. They will exempt import of assets or goods into Georgia from import taxes within the scope of this operation, and they will exempt Georgian enterprises from property tax until January 1, 2030.

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The withdrawal of capital is being countered within the framework of tax administration

The results of tax control measures within the framework of countering capital outflow from the country show that taxes were additionally accrued in the amount of 17.7 billion tenge by the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the automatic exchange of information […]

According to Georgian PM, the number of unemployed has decreased by 50,600

As Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on Monday, the number of unemployed individuals in the country had decreased by 50,600 people, down to 228,600.
According to Kobakhidze, the National Statistics Office published data reporting “positive dynamics” in employment indicators, for example, the decrease of unemployment in the first quarter to 14 percent, from 18 percent in the same period of 2023.
As the Government head added, the number of employed individuals had marked a 10.4 percent increase with the rise by 89,400 and reached 953,000 in total. The number of the self-employed had also risen by 40,500 and attained approximately 448,000.
Kobakhidze highlighted a positive impact of strong economic growth on employment indicators and a reduction in unemployment and the importance of maintaining the “positive” momentum.

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Travelling to Kazakhstan is inadvisable for Uzbek migrants with offenses in Russia

Recent enforcement measures resulting from bilateral agreements between Kazakhstan and Russia made the Agency for External Labour Migration under the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of Uzbekistan issue a cautionary notice to Uzbek nationals who have committed offenses in Russia asking them to refrain from traveling to Kazakhstan.
The newly implemented system within Kazakhstan’s border and internal affairs authorities, based on agreements between Kazakhstan and Russia and focused on the recognition and enforcement of decisions in administrative and criminal cases, is the reason of this advisory.
The agreements make it possible to detain Uzbek citizens with recent offenses in Russia at the Kazakhstan border and to hold them in penal institutions until Russian authorities make final decisions regarding their violations.
The importance of understanding the risks associated with attempting to enter Kazakhstan after committing offenses in Russia and the possibility to face detention and legal consequences under Kazakhstani law are emphasized by the Agency for External Labour Migration.
The agency’s advice has been reinforced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan that urges Uzbeks to ensure they carry all necessary documents when entering or leaving Kazakhstan. The importance of checking for any obstacles to entering Kazakhstan or Russia, particularly in light of the mutual recognition and enforcement of legal decisions between the two countries, is highlighted by the ministry. Entry prohibitions or further legal complications in Kazakhstan can be caused by unpaid fines or other legal violations in Russia.
The need for Uzbek nationals to verify their legal status and ensure compliance with both Russian and Kazakhstan laws before attempting cross-border travel is also stressed by the ministry’s statement.

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Scrutiny of labor migrants from Tajikistan is intensified by Kazakhstan

According to Eurasianet, Kazakhstan scrutiny of labor migrants from neighboring Central Asian nations, Tajiks in particular, has been intensified after the late-March Krasnogorsk terrorist tragedy.
As Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on May 7, a security sweep has been carried out across the country by Kazakh police.
A Tajik citizen who has been working in Kazakhstan for six years said that the situation for natives of Tajikistan has worsened: the police carry out raids are deport many people, even those with a temporary residence permit.
A data from a security operation carried out in the central region of Ulytau, during which 16 Tajik and Uzbek nationals were taken into custody for not having required work authorization was revealed by Kazakh police earlier in May.
Eurasianet reports that security inspections in shopping malls, markets and other venues where large crowds congregate have been conducted to ensure they have plans to contend with possible terror attacks. They had inspected 1,800 establishments for security procedures by the end of April and filed 180 administrative cases for regulatory violations.
Substantial numbers of guest workers from neighboring states, especially Uzbekistan, has traditionally been attracted by Kazakhstan, one of Central Asia’s most prosperous countries. International Organization for Migration (IOM) statistics report that almost 725,000 foreign nationals migrated to Kazakhstan between 2020-2023, mainly for work purposes. The majority of migrants during the four-year period was comprised by Uzbeks. The next two largest national groups of migrants were comprised by Russians and Tajiks.
A 2023 academic study, titled Perspectives on Labor Migration: Insights from Kazakhstan, reports that regulatory pace with the influx of guest workers has been kept up by the authorities.
According to the study, pressing challenges are being experienced by Kazakhstan’s labor migration management: a disparity between attracting labor migrants and effectively regulating their flow, a lack of tools to assess regional demand for skilled foreign workers, and inadequate systems to monitor migrant movement and placement.
Other gaps in the country’s labor migration framework, including violations of labor laws by migrants and employers, the employment or hiring of low-skilled foreign citizens without an employment contract, were highlighted by a separate 2023 academic study, Labor Migration: A view from Kazakhstan. The fact that that some guest workers endured “restriction of personal freedom” and “wage discrimination was also noted by the study.
Tajik citizens going to Kazakhstan got a caution to be prepared for heightened security measures from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan on May 7.

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IMF includes Georgia in the list of 10 countries with highest unemployment decrease over 12 years

The World Economic Review of the International Monetary Fund has ranked Georgia ninth among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest percentage decrease in unemployment over the last 12 years.
The decrease of unemployment in Georgia is estimated by the IMF by 11 percentage points and equals to 15.7 percent by 2024, compared to the levels in 2012.
The IMF reports that the unemployment rate in the country was the highest in 2010, 2011 and 2012 at the level of about 27 percent.
As the IMF said, Georgia reached the highest percentage point of unemployment increase in the world in the period up to 2012. Unemployment increased in that 12-year period by more than16 percentage points.

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Employers get more benefit from minimum wage than employees

Not only workers and their rights but also bind employers are protected by laws in Serbia. Nevertheless, protective work gear and properly secured workplaces are not available for many of these workers today. 42 workers died at work last year. This year six workers died and four people got serious injuries with a fatal outcome from January to March.
Ljubisav Orbović, president of the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia, finds these figures unacceptable. He also adds that the unions asked the state to increase relevant inspection supervision.
Orbović points out that the authorities complained about the lack of inspectors to carry out such frequent inspections. The most problematic sector is the construction.
According to him, redundancies are not that frequent in Serbia due to the workforce deficit.
Serbia has nothing against foreign employers coming to the country because Serbian workers also go abroad as they pay higher wages. But the fact that foreign companies come and lower the price of the work is not acceptable. Such workers find themselves into the background in the labour market and often work without documents, unfortunately.
Concerning negotiating the adjustment of the minimum wage twice a year, Orbović says that there will certainly be negotiations this year as well, but that “they are not a decisive factor for determining the minimum labour price”.
He also adds that adjusting the minimum wage twice a year is a matter of inflation. Adjusting the minimum wage once a year is sufficient, in case if the inflation is within normal limits.
According to Orbović, employers get the opportunity to plan their businesses with the view of having cheap labour at their disposal due to the minimum wage. He adds that the minimum wage corresponds to the minimum consumer basket in Europe, but here that is not the case.

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Manual labour is wide-spread in Serbia

Modul research on work skills reports that performing heavy physical work takes most of the working time of Serbian men and women with high school education, aged between 30 and 59. Nevertheless, social skills are used at work more by women, while using digital devices leads the way of highly educated men.
As the Modul research on work skills reports, “communication with people from the same company or organization” was the most used work skill in Serbia. It means that about 90 percent of respondents are engaged in verbal business communication with colleagues during working hours and approximately 70 percent of them in communication with people outside the company or organization.
Heavy physical work engages about 60 percent of workers, of which 26 percent do heavy labour half of the working time or more and 31 percent less than half of the working time.
Cognitive skills, such as reading instructions and working on calculations involving fractions, percentages, and more complex mathematical functions, are not used at work at all by more than 50 percent of men while only about 5 percent of workers use them most of their working time.
The situation with women does not differ much. Cognitive abilities are not used at all by more than half of the respondents and they are used during most of the working time by only 6 or 7 percent of them.
The difference between the genders in manual skills is more significant. The number of women who spend most of their working time on manual tasks is about 18 percent, while that number among men is about 5 percent higher (about 23 percent).
The president of the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions (ASNS), Ranka Savić, says that manual labour is mostly required by low-budget foreign investments that are coming to Serbia, so these data are easy to explain. Overworking and spending one hundred percent of their working time in physically demanding jobs are among many workers’ complaints. It’s easy to set one of many cable factories as an example. The entire working day is spent by the workers standing, without ever having a chance to sit down and rest. Monotonous activities are performed by the employees with their hands constantly engaged. In retail the situation doesn’t differ much: the workers unload the goods, stack them on the shelves and operate cash registers all their working day.
According to Miloš Turinski, PR of the job search website Infostud, jobs such as administration and retail are mostly applied for by women, while more difficult physical jobs are mostly opted for by men. He also highlights that Serbia currently has the biggest deficit of trade and IT workers while speaking about the demand for labour.

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Significant Growth and Employment Surge was demonstrated by Serbia’s Gaming Industry in 2023

The results of the research from the Serbian Video Game Industry Association (SGA) presented at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) show a 17 percent increase made by Serbia’s gaming industry in 2023. It earned more than 175 million euros, and also a rise in employment was seen.
According to Mihailo Vesović, Director of Strategic Analysis, Services and Internationalisation at the PKS, original products are being developed by 57 percent of companies. Games produced in Serbia have been purchased or downloaded more than one hundred million times.
Vesović said that the gaming industry got a positive impact from significant geostrategic changes, which is a vital link between the creative, social and technical sciences. He highlighted that Serbian gamers’ appearance in Cologne last year got an astonishing support and this continuity will be maintained this year. They had also signed an agreement with the Association as a confirmation and official recognition of close and successful cooperation.
The exceptional growth in employment (by 98 percent) is the most notable change from 2022. It is estimated that 4,300 gaming professionals are working in Serbia now.
The PKS attributes this growth to the large number of gaming professionals and their families who have relocated to Serbia from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and to the fact that some of the world’s leading companies, such as Wargaming, Playri, and Sperasoft now have their largest offices in Serbia. They expect this influx of knowledge and experience to significantly impact the local gaming industry.
The creation of 475 new positions, with women comprising 28 percent of the industry’s workforce, is also included in this year plans.

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Uzbekistan’s citizens are warned of document scams amidst Kazakhstan employment drive

There has been a warning of scams for Uzbekistan’s Citizens going to Kazakhstan for employment or currently working there. Some people posed as embassy or consulate representatives and claimed money and passports for the processing of documents.
Uzbeks heading to Kazakhstan for work are cautioned against such fraudsters by the Foreign Labor Migration Agency. Workers are instructed not to trust these individuals or hand over personal documents.
Individuals falsely representing themselves as embassy or consulate staff targeted Uzbek citizens seeking employment in Kazakhstan or engaging in labor activities there. The fraudsters attempted to take money and passports under the pretense of arranging official documentation.
Citizens are advised not to fall for these scams. The Migration Agency has also emphasized that individuals must apply in person at Public Service Centers for work permits or temporary residency permits.

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