Duterte’s second visit to Russia set next month

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is going on a second official trip to Russia next month to further bolster the bilateral relations between Manila and Moscow, two years after his first official meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte has accepted the invitation of the Russian government for an official visit sometime in the first week of October.

“When you visit a country other than yours, it means you are trying to improve the relations, right? It could mean further improved relations between the two countries,” Panelo said.

The presidential spokesman is optimistic that Duterte and Putin will bring bilateral relations to greater heights, with the two leaders jumping off from the 2017 visit, which Duterte had to abruptly cut short to return home to address the Marawi crisis.

Panelo said the President revealed he accepted the invitation of the Russian president and will just announce what will happen there.

Apart from China, Duterte’s independent foreign policy has shifted also to Russia, which the President credits for providing the government with new firearms to boost the country’s defense capability.

Duterte cut short his trip sometime in May 2017 after crisis broke out in Marawi, prompting him to declare martial law in Mindanao.

1,000 work quotas

As this developed, the Russian Labor Ministry granted a major international construction company more than 1,000 work quotas for Filipino professionals and skilled laborers of various specializations to work in two regions.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs granted Renaissance Heavy Industries with 773 work quotas in Amur Region and 325 in Tyumen Region for highly skilled Filipino professionals and skilled laborers.

Amur is the site of the Amur Gas Processing Plant, the largest construction project in Siberia, which is set to become one of the largest natural gas processing facilities in the world.

Tyumen region is working on building what is touted to become the largest modern petrochemical facility in Russia.

To create legal opportunities for highly skilled Filipino professionals to work in Russia, the Philippine embassy in Moscow met with the officials of Renaissance Heavy Industries.

Philippine embassy in Moscow’s third secretary and vice consul Catherine Alpay joined Manila-based Rensol Recruitment chairman and chief executive officer Arnold Mamaclay in meeting with deputy director general of personnel Zahid Rahimov and Renaissance Heavy Industries lead human resources specialist Olesea Iularji at their office in Moscow.

Renaissance Heavy Industries specializes in the construction services sector and has been awarded large government tenders in many countries around the world.

In Russia alone, the company supplies thousands of workers, both Russian and foreign, to numerous job sites across the country on projects in the commercial sector and in hydrocarbons, power, mining and metallurgy, and processing plants.

Renaissance Heavy Industries officials confirmed to the embassy that some 59 Filipino skilled workers are currently working in Amur. They announced their plans to hire more Filipinos in the near future following the increase in work quotas requested for 2019.

They also mentioned that certain skills are in high demand in some of their major projects over the next few years, such as tungsten inert gas welders and planners.

Renaissance Heavy Industries officials and Mamaclay said there are ongoing efforts to bring more Filipino professionals and skilled workers to Russia through legal means.– With Pia Lee-Brago