On 25 January, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Denmark Mykhailo Vydoinyk held an online meeting with Jonas From Soelberg, Head of Division of International Recruiting of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration of Denmark. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI), Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Outrup Tom Axelgaard and Chairman of the Association of Ukrainians of Denmark Andrii Kuzmin.

The parties discussed the development of the situation around the mass layoffs of Ukrainian workers from Danish mink farms, which were closed by the Danish government due to fears that one of the mutations in mink coronavirus may be resistant to a potential vaccine against the coronavirus decease (Covid-19).

In particular, they considered possible initiating certain measures by the Danish government that would mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the layoffs for Ukrainian citizens and would not contradict Danish law. Among the proposals of the Ukrainian interlocutors were: extension of the term of departure from Denmark; granting 6 months job seeking permits; reduction of the required minimum wage for the period of requalification, etc. However, according to the Danish representatives, the implementation of such measures in the next few months is unlikely, as it requires the necessary changes to the legislation of Denmark, provides for the relevant procedures to be passed and is quite long.

For their part, the staff of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) informed about the current rules of consideration by the Agency of applications for termination of employment with a foreign employee. In particular, only after the Danish employer has given written notice of the termination of the contract with the employee, the Agency does start verifying the circumstances of the layoff and the possibility of revoking residence permit in Denmark of the relevant person. This process takes time and could last up to three months (considering the pandemic situation). Upon completion of the examination, if the residence permit is revoked, a one-month period is set to the foreign citizen for leaving Denmark or finding a new job.

In general, the Danish interlocutors noted that they fully understand the complexity of the current situation for Ukrainian citizens, and the leadership of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration of Denmark pays special attention to this issue.

Based on the above, the Embassy of Ukraine in Denmark encourages all Ukrainians involved in the Danish mink industry not to delay seeking for a new job, to ask advice from colleagues who have already found such a job, share existing positive experiences with the Association of Ukrainians in Denmark and through social networks. The Embassy continues to keep this issue under control and will immediately inform about possible further developments.