The Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Fund for Digital Initiatives has launched the Work in the EAEU mobile app, an online platform to ensure one of the freedoms of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – the free movement of labor.

The EDB press center says Tigran Sargsyan, Vice Chairman of the EDB Management Board and supervisor of the Fund for Digital Initiatives, presented the digital solution at the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council session in Minsk on June 21.

The app developed by the EDB Fund for Digital Initiatives reportedly helps remove technical, informational and service barriers, improve living and working conditions for EAEU citizens, facilitate access to national information services, and promote linkages between public and commercial digital services.

“The Work in the EAEU services are currently provided within the Russian segment.  In other words, EAEU and CIS nationals can receive public and commercial services when working in Russia.  Negotiations are underway to launch similar app services in other EAEU countries,” Sargsyan noted.

The Work in the EAEU app makes it possible to check entry restrictions to Russia, taxpayer identification number (INN) for foreign nationals as well as the insurance record with the Pension Fund of Russia, apply to the labor inspectorate, request recognition of education documents, and apply for and receive a work patent. It is also possible to search for and respond to vacancies posted on the Work in Russia website.  The app has an employment guide and a list of Russia’s laws and regulations governing employment and migrant workers.  There is also a knowledge database with questions and answers to the most frequently asked questions on labor migration.

“By the end of this year, we plan to include in the app the possibility to apply for a SNILS, INN and registration as self-employed,” Sargsyan said.

The commercial services include voluntary health insurance, residential and commercial property rental, airline and railway tickets, and SIM card purchases.  New services, including notarized document translations, bank cards and international money transfers, are in the pipeline.

“We intend to develop the Work in the EAEU app further to meet the new demands of labor market participants. Important and necessary steps to this end would be recognition of electronic digital signatures and the system of transboundary identification and authentication at the national, interstate and supranational levels,” Sargsyan added.

The app is available on the App Store and Google Play.

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution investing in Eurasia.  For more than fifteen years, the Bank has worked to strengthen and expand economic ties and foster comprehensive development in its member countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.  The EDB's charter capital totals US$7 billion.  Its portfolio mainly consists of projects with an integration effect in transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and mechanical engineering.  The Bank’s operations are guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ESG principles.

The EDB Fund for Digital Initiatives was established in June 2020.  Its objective is to assist the EDB member states in creating digital transformation tools and practices by integrating their information resources and participating in the development and financing of projects.  The Fund’s flagship project is the COVID-19-Free Travel mobile app used in nine CIS countries.