National report by the Russian Federation at the 15th BRICS Trade Union Forum Hyderabad, 14-16 July, 2026
Dear colleagues, friends, brothers and sisters,
First of all, let me thank Indian trade unions for hosting our regular, 15th BRICS Trade Union Forum which is held in an expanded format.
We are pleased to meet with all our colleagues from BRICS member- and partner countries, as well as, of course, the Forum’s guests, and hope that our communication will be fruitful and constructive. We also expect that BRICS labour and employment ministers’ meeting will be productive and take place with our participation.
Turning to the national report on behalf of the Russian trade union movement, I’d like to stress that the economic situation in our country as a whole is characterized by positive trends. We try to keep you informed about this in detail through our newsletters.
The Russian Federation’s GDP growth in 2025 was 1%, which is slightly lower than in the previous year; at the same time, manufacturing industry grew by 3.9%, and the hotel and catering industry grew by 8.9%, which indicates a stable but cooled state of the economy.
The focus of fiscal and economic policy has now shifted to reducing inflationary pressures. By June, annual inflation had fallen to 5.6% with a target level of 4%. There is confidence that by the end of this year, the desired performance will be achieved, despite continued pressure of sanctions on the part of unfriendly countries. During the past Forum meetings, we have quoted the number of them imposed on our country. As of today, Russia remains by far the most sanctioned country on earth with more than 20,000 different restrictions in place. Yet, we are coping with both external pressure and domestic economic and other challenges.
From the workers' perspective, it is particularly important that, despite various difficulties and external pressures, real wage growth, adjusted for inflation, will approach 2.7% by the end of 2026. In the public sector, wages have already been indexed by 7.6% since the beginning of the year while unemployment for more than a year stays at an all-time low of 2.1%.
But the most acute problem in the labour market remains shortage of manpower. The deficit in skilled workers and engineers is mostly felt in the industry, IT, and other engineering sectors.
The social and internal political situation in the country remains fairly stable. This is confirmed not only by various sociological surveys showing a high, around 74% rate of approval of President Putin’s performance as of mid-June 2026, but also by the dynamics of social and labour conflicts.
The vast majority of social and labour conflicts occurring in Russia, 68 of which have been recorded this year, are local in nature. Their causes tend to be specific to particular industries, not an expression of trends common to the economy.
In general, it can be noted that the system of social dialogue and partnership helps us cope with strong external pressure. The federal government and employers regularly consult with trade unions that have the power to consistently defend workers' rights and interests. The same approach has been implemented at the regional level.
The single most important factor affecting the lives of our people and the lives of tens of millions of organised workers remains the Special Military Operation. We strive to ensure the security of our borders, threatened by NATO’s eastward expansion, and to protect Russian-speaking population of Ukraine and citizens of our country from oppression, violence and extermination.
The position of Russian trade unions remains unchanged: we welcome all peace initiatives and hope for an early and fair settlement of the armed conflict. However, we share the position of the President of Russia that a lasting peace is not possible without addressing the root causes which led to the armed conflict, and these are extreme Ukrainian nationalism which turned into Nazism; Russophobia; total disregard for democratic principles and procedures; massive and widespread human rights violations.
Now, turning to the Draft Declaration, we are in general agreement with the text proposed by our Indian colleagues. Despite historical differences between our countries, we have the same views on inequality, unemployment, and informal employment contained therein. We agree with the title of the Declaration “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the authors of the Declaration for the generally clear and universal wording of the draft.
Thank you for attention.