Olga Golodets reported at the conference that unemployment in Russia is currently the lowest since the Soviet era and will be maintained at this level in 2013. "We have registered a record-low unemployment level of 5.2% in Russia, according to ILO methodology. Russia has never had such low unemployment in its history," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Ms Golodets later told the media that Russia has the potential to improve the situation in the labour market in a timely manner. She said that there are currently about 1.5 million job vacancies in the labour market.

Olga Golodets also said that Russia should promptly respond to market challenges, and reminded journalists about the adoption of the law on developing new (professional) standards in nearly all professions.

The Deputy Prime Minister also touched upon the issue of labour immigrants, saying that Russian citizens must have competitive employment advantages compared to immigrants, and that the use of foreign labour should be balanced.

Ms Golodets emphasised that the creation of well-paid jobs with comfortable working conditions for Russian citizens should be an absolute priority for the Government.