Turkish workers at the Gemont factory in Russia's Tatarstan region have protested that their U.S.-dollar pegged salaries are being paid using an exchange rate from before the ruble plunged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Officials in Tatarstan's Nizhnekamsk district, where the Turkish-owned factory is located, said on March 5 that the workers demanded their salaries be paid at the current rate, which is 111 rubles to $1, instead of the 79.5 rubles to $1 they were paid this week.
According to the officials, the workers stopped the protest after the factory administration agreed to pay the salary at a rate of 90 rubles to $1.
The ruble has plummeted to record lows and the country's borrowing costs have risen sharply after the West imposed punitive financial sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions have limited Russia's ability to transact in foreign currencies such as dollars and euros, frozen the assets of multiple Russian banks, and cut off Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system banks use to conduct financial transactions globally.
Gemont is a Turkish company that produces construction materials and pipes and has been operating in Russia since 2014 in partnership with Russian energy companies, including the state energy giant Gazprom.
