Arkady Gostev, the head of Russia’s Federal Penal Service, has sent a letter to Sergey Chemezov, the head of Rostec, suggesting that the labour of convicts be used for the needs of the latter in development, production, and export of manufactures, Kommersant says.
According to the newspaper, Rostec sent the received proposal to its enterprises for consideration. “The possibilities of such cooperation are now being explored in many areas at once,” added a Kommersant source in the state corporation.
Kommersant’s source clarified that the prisoners' labour would not be used in the assembly of “rockets or aircraft”, but can be used in certain types of work that do not require high qualification. In addition, the institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service can act as suppliers of containers, overalls, “and other types of simple products,” the source said.
“Theoretically, prisoners can be allowed to work in those structures of Rostec that do not produce any final product, but rather components for equipment: things like mounting plates, electronic components, and so on,” Kommersant’s source in the telecom equipment market suggested.
Female labour might be of the highest demand, the source says: “So, at our enterprise, women mostly work on assembly lines and solder components to boards. Past experience shows that they are more diligent, accurate and patient than men.”
The UK Defence Ministry suggested in January that the Russian defence industry was using convicts for labour in order to satisfy the wartime production needs.
The agency stated that Uralvagonzavod, Russia’s biggest tank producer, met representatives of the Federal Penal Service in November 2022 and agreed to employ 250 convicts.