International languages might be banned from work in Russia

Communication in a language other than Russian at work could soon be banned under a bill proposed by two lawmakers from Russia’s nationalist LDPR party, RIA Novosti reports.

Foreigners working in the country often don’t speak Russian, which can lead to problems in their place of employment, deputies Yan Zelinsky and Yelena Afanasyeva said Thursday.

“They [foreign citizens] talk among themselves in their native language at work during work hours, which fills the indigenous population with resentment,” RIA Novosti quotes the deputies as saying.

The bill would ban the use of foreign languages at work by foreigners or stateless people working in Russia under contract, obliging them instead to speak Russian or the official language of the region. 

Russian is the only nationally recognized official language.