Russia's PM warns companies against firing employees during crisis

Russia’s prime minister Mikhail Mishustin has warned companies to keep people employed and pay them their salaries, despite the government’s struggle to tackle the economic impact of the coronavirus and the sharp fall in oil prices.
Mishustin ​told a government meeting on March 21 that firings should only be “an extreme measure”.
“If someone is tempted to use the noise around the coronavirus to solve their current problems by firing staff, such enterprises will be visited by the labor inspection, federal tax service and the prosecutor’s office”, he said, adding that the government will be monitoring the labor market in the regions on a weekly basis.
Russia temporarily halted inspections of small and medium-size businesses as one of the measures. However, Mishustin threatened that the measure could be lifted if people are fired or not paid. He advised companies to have employees work from home.
Representatives of Russia’s steel, coal, and iron industries said they were preparing for a possible halt to sales for six months to a year.
Mishustin also said the Central Bank was launching preferential lending programs to help companies caught in a liquidity crunch. Prior to becoming a prime minister, Mishustin was a deputy tax minister, after which he became the head of a Russian investment company, and was named head of Russia’s tax service in 2010.
Additionally, the economy ministry announced it was preparing an aid package for restaurants and tour operators, as well as a bill that would impose a moratorium on bankruptcies.