In June 2025, the 114th International Labour Conference is taking place in Geneva. Among the delegates is Sergiy Byzov, head of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine. But his speech is not about ordinary labor standards. It is about the geography of trust.
The decision exists. The office remained
In March 2022, the Administrative Board of the ILO condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine and instructed to consider options for relocating the Moscow office — the Technical Support Group on Decent Work and the ILO Bureau for Eastern Europe and Central Asia — outside the Russian Federation. More than three years have passed. The office in Moscow continues to operate.
This very contradiction — between an adopted decision and the absence of action — is the real conflict in Byzov's speech in Geneva.
"In the context of ILO reform, we reiterate: the expediency of regional representation in Moscow is in question. We propose transferring these functions to Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan".
— Sergiy Byzov, head of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, 114th International Labour Conference
What stands behind the proposal
The Moscow ILO office serves countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia — a region where Russia maintains significant influence. Relocating the bureau to Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan would mean not just a change of address: it would be a signal to countries in the region that the ILO is distancing itself from the aggressor state as an institutional hub.
Byzov also raised the issue of protecting the rights of Ukrainian workers in occupied territories — and countering the militarized indoctrination of youth that Russia is conducting on captured lands. Both issues formally fall within the ILO's mandate, but the organization is not publicly addressing them.
Context of the reform
ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo, at the opening of the conference, emphasized that the organization's reform is aimed at strengthening its capacity to fulfill its mandate — not at changing its identity. It is within this window of reform that Ukraine is trying to insert the question of the Moscow office: while the structure is being reviewed, there is a chance to change the geography as well.
- The ILO Administrative Board instructed in 2022 to consider relocating the Moscow office
- Technical cooperation with Russia has been suspended, but regional presence has been preserved
- Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are neutral states in the region with which the ILO actively cooperates
- In parallel, Russia received similar pressure from the ILO through Belarus — Article 33 was applied there for violations of workers' rights
The fundamental difference between Belarus and Russia in the ILO system so far — is not in favor of the organization's consistency: Minsk received a tougher pressure tool than Moscow.
If by the end of the 114th ILO Conference the question of relocating the Moscow office is not included in the reform agenda — this will mean that the 2022 Administrative Board decision will remain a declaration without a mechanism for implementation.
