IT Emigration to Minsk

Prologue

It so happened that I moved to live and work from Moscow to Minsk. Often I saw similar materials about similar moves to some exotic for me or very far countries, but I want to share my experience with emigration “to my neighbors”.

It is important that I will write about Minsk, and not about the whole of Belarus. What is written below is only my vision of the situation, perhaps, somewhere I did not see everything.
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If you have any questions, write in a personal or in the comments to the post.

IT and job search

In Minsk, there are about 10-15 strong IT companies with Moscow salary levels. All of them are presented on our classic job search sites. Basically, here, of course, is something related to the web and outsourcers. Frequently and successfully relocate employees to Minsk.

If you come from Moscow, no one looks at you as a “specialist from Moscow”, you will be on the same level as the rest. But! There is a clear lack of qualified staff - this is a fact.

Another very important fact: the domestic market of Belarus is insignificant compared to the domestic market of Russia. This means that they are looking for a client here “over the hill” and easy budgets are not spoiled here. The level of culture of production and products here is also high and modern. And the level of customer service, the level of ability to work at the proposal stage, and so on are higher than in Russia (apparently due to customer search in Europe).

Accordingly, English is almost the norm for local IT workers, keep this in mind.

In my case, I first found, and then moved. I think this is the best option.

Legal side

Everything is very simple here, and it comes down to several successive steps.

1. You must rent any accommodation under a rental agreement. Almost everyone who rents an apartment on their own does not mind doing it legally. You agree on a price, then go to the local (each district of the city has your own) housing department, take a standard form of the contract, sign it from both sides. There were no queues, the employee was aware of all the nuances, told everything in some detail.

Frequent practice is to enter into the contract the lower cost of rental housing than it is. This is done to reduce the income tax of the owner, it is worth discussing such things in advance. Who, in fact, will pay this tax?

2. Having received a rental agreement on your hands, you can officially find a job. In short, at this stage the employer signs an employment contract with you.

3. Next, you need to take a cardboard daddy with the heading “Case”, a couple of photos, a copy of the rental agreement, your passport and employment contract and go to the local FMS office. Here, I also did not notice any queues. Everything went quickly, but I had to pay a fee of about $ 40.

4. After about 10 days all in the same FMS, I received a small green piece of paper confirming my registration. It is given for a certain period, in my case - a year. I took a copy of this registration to work.
No one on the street has ever asked for any documents or registration. Police officers here are generally much smaller.
The only bonus to this registration was the opportunity to buy the “normal” local tariff of the cellular operator, instead of the “guest”, which is not very profitable.

Why Minsk?

Before moving here, I visited this city several times and I liked it. I understood very well that I did not see the whole “vnutryanki” and so on, so in many ways it was an adventure, but in the end I am very glad that I did it. I wanted a calmer, cleaner, well-kept city - and got it. In addition, a great opportunity to grow as a specialist in a new place of work.

On the other hand, I did not want to go far, yet my relatives and friends are an important part of my life. And here Minsk looks like a very tempting idea. What is needed is almost the same mentality, but slightly larger than Europe.

It is difficult to explain, on the one hand everything is very similar to my house, as if you went to a nearby city in Russia, on the other hand, “the devil is in the details.”

People

The average Minsk resident is a bit more hardworking, a little less aggressive, a little more calm compared to the same average Muscovite. Add to this a little more modesty (until I saw the “golden boomers” and tinted “boy-wheelbarrows with bass”). Plus, it’s worth adding that the locals are a bit more silent. There is something in them from the Baltic peoples in the good sense of the word.

In general, there is one word in the Belarusian language, the translation of which I cannot literally say and really nobody could do it to me yet. The word is "pamyarkoўny." Sounds, of course, beaten, but the meaning of the word must be felt. And if you feel the value, it means that you have at least a little understood the peculiarities of Belarus.

People here lead a more measured and less haste life. When I walk down the street, my speed is 15-20 percent higher than the rest (now it is passing). I can not say that I see more smiles, but I definitely see less sullenness in faces.

Tongue

The Belarusian language is dying out - this, unfortunately, is a fact. Almost everyone I asked said that it was already taking place a long time ago and turned into just a natural process. The native language is known in the villages and in academic circles. This is the gap.

No problem if you do not know the language you will not have, although many of the names written in Belarusian. If you take a word without a context, it is sometimes difficult to translate, but in the context the meaning is always clear. I have never used a translator. Many Belarusians asked me if they thought their language was funny - for some reason I don’t think so. The language is like a language, but it’s still more like Ukrainian or Polish, it seems to me.

Prices

If you want to go to Minsk because of its cheapness, then it's too late. Prices for products, goods, many services (except) are not much lower than in Moscow. True, I want to add that in relation to food there is one difference. It is very tasty local food. For example, all sorts of "Danone" are in the store and nervously smoking.

Although this is not about prices, but I wanted to write about it. Trams, trolleybuses, computers at customs officers and much more - all this is locally produced. MAZ works, farmers come to the market.

At first there was a complete removal of the brain with prices. I'm getting used to it now. In the simplest form, you need to divide by 10,000 to get the price in US dollars. By the way, this is very cool if your salary is pegged to the dollar rate in Belarus. Inflation is still palpable here. For example, I save money and do not store it in local currency.

Housing

Rent an apartment in Minsk is not a problem. Constantly there are interesting offers and very quickly go. What is the reason for such a boom? I don’t know. A good odnushka with repair, in the center, next to the metro is $ 500- $ 600. This is generally considered not cheap. You can find for $ 200- $ 300, but with the “Soviet” repair and not in the center. To get a rent is preferred in dollars. I recommend to look for accommodation with an agent, he will take half the cost of a month. If you start looking for yourself, then you get tired of driving by sentences. Oh yes, you can always bargain, here it is normal.

But the "communal" pleases. The whole communal flat for a one-room apartment with a telephone comes out at about $ 35. Streets and courtyards are clean, garbage is taken out, in general, I have not yet encountered any problems here. All communal crying through the Internet. Here it is convenient and simple.

Prices for "buy" housing are comparable to Moscow region. Why and who buys - I do not know. Mortgage now in Belarus do not give.

Public transport

According to my calculations, at least two times cheaper. Goes on schedule, ride comfortably. Although the intervals between the trains in the subway surprised me at first and were not familiar, as was the depth of the stations (it seems that I just went down to the underpass) - from here, by the way, there is another escalator behavior culture.

About the subway. Probably, it happens rarely that during peak hours there is no free space. And the point is not that I occupy it, but that they sometimes still remain.

Here are just the standard Google Maps and Yandex Maps do not want to build routes for public transport in this city.
I often travel by taxi, it’s cheap and very convenient to call. I never waited more than 5-10 minutes anywhere in the city.

Car traffic

Machines are much smaller. What local drivers consider a traffic jam is considered to be a slow motion. Apparently this is another driving culture - less aggressive. No, really, "Muscovites" can be seen immediately. There are almost no vases here, it is cheaper to buy a used foreign car. And drivers pass people on crossings even in the very center. A pedestrian here really has an advantage. There are no problems with parking in the courtyards, but this is not due to the well-thought of the courtyards, but because of the number of cars.

I hardly ever met such a chip as staking out a place in the courtyard, only next to institutions.

Bicycles

It seems to me that there are much more cyclists here than in Moscow. On the one hand it is more convenient to move around the city - the traffic is easier, on the other hand, the eternal problem of borders.

By the way, a very steep, modern cycle path passes through the whole of Minsk from the northwest to the southeast. About 30 km long along the Svisloch River. Only for the sake of this bike path you can already buy a bike.



Literally in 20 minutes drive you will see a forest, a swamp, and grazing horses. At first, I couldn’t even believe that just a couple of kilometers from me somewhere there lived a big city. Very picturesque places.

By the way, since there are a few other laws and there really is consumer protection, after buying a bicycle, the first THEN for a bicycle is free.

But in this photo we rent on the “bicycle rights”, which we received at one of the events.



And today, 20 minutes away from the center by bicycle, in some fields I saw live deer, peacefully rushing about their business. The place where this happened can be found on the link .

Services

Competition among local entrepreneurs is less than in Moscow. This greatly affects the level of service. No, they won't get nasty, but nobody will beg you for anything. Everything is done longer (the slowest McDolds in the world, it seems to me, in Minsk).

Probably comparable to provincial cities in Russia. Companies that start working on the service are immediately noticeable.
Typical story. I call in a taxi, saying that I’m standing at the mall for such and such, she asks for the address, I’m calling it. And I must say, this shopping center is a famous point in Minsk. The girl, in a very dissatisfied voice, says that this shopping center has a different address.

- Yes, you are right, maybe I was wrong.
- First, figure out where you are, then call - and hangs up.

I smiled and called another taxi.

the Internet

4G no. 3G works worse than in Moscow, very noticeable by the way the battery of the phone sits down. The coverage area itself is not bad. Check mail, social networks - can be almost anywhere.

But home Internet - trouble. It is almost twice as expensive here, there is not a dedicated line everywhere, ADSL is very popular. I think this is the same temporary. Still, there is some progress in this direction. Now for 10-ku (which systematically decreases or falls), I pay about $ 25.

If you rent an apartment, immediately find out on this account. In some homes, even ADSL is not and will not be. Moreover, it is not associated with the year of construction.

Greenery

Minsk is green and clean. The heat is transferred here more easily than in Moscow. And not only the central streets are cleaned, but even the fields outside the city. I am now very afraid that the city will begin to grow according to the principle of Moscow - to compact and cut everything down. There are wide streets, a lot of space. There is where to bathe, even in the city, with a shower, buoys and more.

The parks here are really islands of nature.

I have not figured it out yet, whether people are actually less littering, or more often, or maybe both.

Conclusion Is it worth it or not?

It is clear that all this is individual and everyone must answer this question himself. But Minsk is definitely a great modern city, where you can live in comfort and make money. This is not a cardinal change of culture, it is just an opportunity to live in a more pleasant place. Moscow will always have more money, opportunities and speed. Minsk is not suitable for everyone - but this, I think, is good.

PS A few noticed facts

• Very few red people
• Few men wear a beard
• Not seen beggars and homeless
• Less urban crazy and freaks
• 4 hours by train to Vilnius
• There are significantly fewer non-working holidays