Recommendations for those who want to move to Minsk
In recent months, at least two articles on Habra-GT resources have already been skipped about how IT-specialists moved to Minsk in search of a better share. For each of the articles I left a number of comments and looking at the rather warm reception of the community of such materials, I think it’s time, nevertheless, to make a short manual on moving and living in the BSSR of Belarus from a resident of the capital.
Under the cut you will have a look at things from a Minsk dweller, three life hacking and one flat joke.
First of all, arriving inBelarus, Belarus, in order to merge with the local and not cause negative, start to call the country namely Belarus (from the official name of the Republic of Belarus). Maybe this will seem insignificant to you, and you will not find a serious outwardly expressed negative, but believe me, Belarusians are terribly hard of hearing to believe the inhabitants of the country. Those who grew up under the USSR are completely neutral about this, because they lived in Belorussia for quite some time.
')
Life hacking number 1: Upon arrival at the station \ to the airport do not rush to take a taxi, which stands near the building. These are the bombilians who wait for naive visitors and take 3-4 prices at least for the same distance. If you have heavy bags on a hump and you need a “motor”, call the car through the dispatch service, the time on the wire is 2-3 minutes + 2-15 (maximum) minutes of waiting for the “carriage” to save you $ 10-20 minimum. The main services of Minsk: 135.by 7788.by , everywhere there are online order forms, or, a call to the same numbers will save you from unclean “vodyatl”.
Immediately determine the mobile operator, preferably before leaving. There are currently 3 players in the country: MTS , Velcom and Life :)
Your obedient servant has been using Velcom for 10 years already, a bit more expensive than other operators, but more adequately by long-term observations. It should be understood that I have my operator for a “universal connection”. For mobile internet only, you need to choose carefully.
Be extremely attentive with the contracts of Life :), because you are not a resident, there may be pitfalls in the form of small print, such as an increase in fees several times after the end of the “advertising” period of 3-6 months without the right of termination for a year and a half (YES! They practiced this).
I highly recommend immediately upon arrival in the city, getting on the peron, go look for a currency exchange office. Do not worry, in this country, exchangers have the right to place only banks and the exchange rate at the station is no different from the rate at the head office and the minimum varies from bank to bank. For every hundred dead presidents, you will receive an awesome set of bills in denominations of 100,000 and 200,000 belarus. The official rate at the time of writing the article is 10,660 rubles per US dollar, so for $ 100 you will be given about 1,066,000 (one million sixty-six thousand) rubles, with a maximum face value of 200,000.
Life hacking number 2. Be careful with bills of 50,000 and 1,000 rubles. They are printed in one color and with some wear in the twilight it is difficult to distinguish between them:
Believe me, in life, the differences between these bills are even smaller, and their nominal value is significantly different. (~ 5 $ and ~ 0.1 $) respectively. Be careful.
Cash currencies to be brought along: US dollar, possibly Euro, Ros. Ruble.
The main running non-national currency in our country is the "dead raccoon." Prices in them are indicated in almost all online stores, as well as the cost of a number of goods between residents. Do not be surprised if you will be called the price of a new phone in dollars, or a TV, or an apartment / car. This is normal and you, too, get used to translating most prices into dollars in your mind. In general, everything in the country is pegged to the dollar, because the national currency has been constantly depreciating smoothly over the past 2 years, and has been “sharply” several times before. With this aspect, by the way, will be associated with job search.
The deadliest time for moving is the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, because it is during this period that the city is actively “settled” by visiting students, which seriously reduces the number of offers and raises the price tag. It is also not necessary to move to the New Year time and large vacation periods. Many Russians come to Minsk to relax in taverns and casinos, so housing may be tough (although there are hostels after ChMPoH, but you know the price tags there). Fortunately, I, as a native of the capital, did not encounter a housing issue, but only a room for “sharing” can cost more than $ 200 \ month, a one-room apartment of varying degrees of “decrepitude” - from $ 400, if memory serves, will be apart from the bare walls.
In terms of finding housing, as has already been written, if you contact the agencies, then only the “actual payment”. If you make any prepayment, then know that 60-70% of the information that will be sent to you will be outdated, i.e. You will continue your search on your own and only waste money. Classically, those who rent housing, require an advance payment for 3-6 months of residence, depending on the owner, so be prepared to immediately pay $ 1200-1500 for an apartment minimum. Remove "on mesyatsok to zp" get vryatli. + As described in another article, you will need a tenancy agreement for obtaining a residence permit, but this is another song with a chorus.
In terms of job search, you can use the following resources: jobs.tut.by dev.by and linkedin. I recommend to look after the vacancies before the move (a week or two before departure) and contact a couple of potential employers in order to assess the market and its requirements. In general, there is plenty of work for a programmer of any language from 3+ years.
Be careful with local giants, wargaming.net, EPAM, iTransition (A1QA) and other big names. I can say with confidence that in the same wargaming gold mountains can promise, but in the end they can plant to check the code, and you will see the main-projects hardly.
The salary fork also varies greatly. They start from $ 500-800 for Junior and are not indicated at all for experienced Senior-specialists, and those that are indicated are boldly transferred for $ 2000-3000.
Life hacking number 3:
1. No RFP in the envelopes, so only the office sharazkins work.
2. Try to look for a job with payments tied to the US dollar, it will save you with a possible next collapse of the ruble (the latter was in 2011 at 250% +).
Well, here everyone has to choose for himself what the soul is, but it is difficult for a specialist to remain without work, the market is overheated.
Everything is simple with food. Domestic production of poor quality, usually quality, dominates the market. In any case, nobody speaks of “impossible to eat”. The situation with imported products is more complicated, the price in comparison with internal counterparts is seriously overestimated, and in principle there are not some items. I must say at once that, for example, a normal fish costs the same, normal money, for objective reasons of lack of access to the sea. Chilled, as in St. Petersburg, is not in principle, and if there is, then it is +3 prices per kilo.
Separately, I will say about clothes, and specifically, about shoes, for it was painful. If you prefer normal quality shoes, you will have to try to find them. Immediately pass by any networks "Megatop" and others, it is 100% of China falling apart in a month. Look for Vito (Finnish shoes), Salamander and other European manufacturers. Be prepared that something less adequate in quality in terms of shoes costs between $ 120-160 and above. This, in principle, is true for almost all products in the country. Jeans, shirts, jumpers, and other clothes of decent quality and appearance cost solid money against the background of the overall market supply. If you practice buying clothes over the Internet - you probably still need to practice it further, in any case, you already know what to expect.
It's all much better than in the same Russia, but perhaps worse than in Ukraine. From the local one can safely drink vodka (Bulbash, Svayak, Naliboki and others), with “Finn”, of course, can not be compared, but I also did not observe the “blue” counterfeit on the shelves. And if you do not suffer from a hangover, then the factory beer, although it is very doubtful in terms of dilution with alcohol in recent years. If you are a beer maniac, then you should think about European-Russian brands, or scout a store of draft beer near the house and sip an ale in the evenings, or a goat. In general, high-quality alcohol (whiskey, brandy, tequila, etc) is not cheap, and the residents of Ukraine will generally move their hair on the price in dollars. Get used to it, Wellcome Belarus.
In general, prices in the Republic of Belarus are not very different from prices in the Russian Federation, some things are still cheaper, but this is not easier. Special cheap do not wait.
I must say that expensive - it does not mean quality. The most disgusting service in my life, I received just the same in expensive places on the central avenue, once. In general, Minsk is a big and quiet village and “nightlife” in the usual sense for a Muscovite, for example, there is not much here. On weekdays, the streets die out as early as 22-23 hours, on Friday-Saturday by midnight-hour. The main guide to the institutions you can use the site relax.by , there are listed almost all the institutions of Minsk, up to the small squash in sleeping areas. In general, I will not impose my opinion, because everyone chooses himself what he likes, but personally I love the Gvozd beer restaurant on the street. They have a tasty beer, steak and crazy burgers. The average check in institutions varies greatly. In the “district” a zucchini you can have a delicious dinner without embellishment and with a couple of liters of draft Belarusian beer “beaver” for 150-200.000 rubles, while in the same nail only for a liter mug of beer you will give 100-130.000. In general, my average check, depending on the institution, varies from 150,000 to 800,000 for Friday's "get-together" with a couple of friends per person.
If you prefer calm alcoholism "at home", then immediately say that you should buy in advance. Be careful with the delivery of food to the house, the same eda.by cooperates with the not the best network of Garage facilities (where I don’t recommend to appear at all sometime) and the same pizza you will have to wait at least 30 minutes minimum by the operator. Usually, it comes already cool for indecent money. My friend in this regard has passed to their young rivals edanada.by , but in general, I advise you to either buy yourself or prepare yourself. It is not legal to buy alcohol after 23:00, but it seems that a group of baryg “alcohol at home” appeared in VKontakte for 70 thousand delivery + mark-up. In a godly way, if the holiday was really prolonged, but there was nothing to drink.
There are enough theaters, cinema etc. in Minsk. I recommend taking the tickets in advance and paying via the Internet by credit card, 50 cents of commission is nothing, compared to the queues and “you didn’t have enough seats”. Automatic ticket printing is, it seems, is everywhere. I also recommend doing the same with theaters, but here you can buy tickets for at least a week or two. In general, the list of all events is compiled on the main white portal afisha.tut.by . It is always possible to choose something to their liking. In terms of the theater, do not be frightened by the language barrier, feel free to go to Belarusian-language comedies, get involved for 15-20 minutes. Ukrainians in general should not have problems in this regard.
Everything is simple and clear. No idea, I play DotA.
In general, calm and restraint is something like a national credo. Vivid expression of emotions, loud laughter, loud telephone conversations are not welcomed. Get used to the general leisurelyness and people who are standing on the left of the escalator, instead of going, this is the norm. Russians can immediately be seen from afar by their active gestures and loud conversations, wean them, for they can accidentally be mistaken for being upset or drunk.
The police will not break you down just like that, but there are enough patrols. Immediately I warn you that there are only two ways to solve the problem - either to talk like a human being and hide from their eyes, or to take shape in the forks. A bribe will not be taken, and an attempt to give it may shine with major troubles. About traffic police do not know, not the driver, but there, it seems like, more and more classical in terms of speeding, for example, drivers know better.
If you are caught by controllers in public ground transportation - pay a fine. It’s a long time to explain, but in general, they are equated to employees “on execution” and the police are shining for resistance -> protocol.
Through the turnstiles do not jump. Totally.
We do not meet on the streets and in transport, in any case, I have never seen anything like this and I’ll see it vryatli. You can ask for the way / time, but what you are doing in the evening is unlikely.
It is all the same to everyone how it was done in your homeland, here your rules and stories will not pass to anyone “yes, I did it myself 100 times” and will not cause approval.
In general, as my Russian comrades told me, at least I have a little “comrade major” in my head that regulates my behavior in order not to intervene in the “story” with a sad ending.
And most importantly, just do not be surprised. There is no general love for our president, as it might seem from the outside. Be in this matter, as well as in the laudatory "odes", very neat.
Under the cut you will have a look at things from a Minsk dweller, three life hacking and one flat joke.
Where to begin
First of all, arriving in
')
Life hacking number 1: Upon arrival at the station \ to the airport do not rush to take a taxi, which stands near the building. These are the bombilians who wait for naive visitors and take 3-4 prices at least for the same distance. If you have heavy bags on a hump and you need a “motor”, call the car through the dispatch service, the time on the wire is 2-3 minutes + 2-15 (maximum) minutes of waiting for the “carriage” to save you $ 10-20 minimum. The main services of Minsk: 135.by 7788.by , everywhere there are online order forms, or, a call to the same numbers will save you from unclean “vodyatl”.
Immediately determine the mobile operator, preferably before leaving. There are currently 3 players in the country: MTS , Velcom and Life :)
Your obedient servant has been using Velcom for 10 years already, a bit more expensive than other operators, but more adequately by long-term observations. It should be understood that I have my operator for a “universal connection”. For mobile internet only, you need to choose carefully.
Be extremely attentive with the contracts of Life :), because you are not a resident, there may be pitfalls in the form of small print, such as an increase in fees several times after the end of the “advertising” period of 3-6 months without the right of termination for a year and a half (YES! They practiced this).
Money
I highly recommend immediately upon arrival in the city, getting on the peron, go look for a currency exchange office. Do not worry, in this country, exchangers have the right to place only banks and the exchange rate at the station is no different from the rate at the head office and the minimum varies from bank to bank. For every hundred dead presidents, you will receive an awesome set of bills in denominations of 100,000 and 200,000 belarus. The official rate at the time of writing the article is 10,660 rubles per US dollar, so for $ 100 you will be given about 1,066,000 (one million sixty-six thousand) rubles, with a maximum face value of 200,000.
Life hacking number 2. Be careful with bills of 50,000 and 1,000 rubles. They are printed in one color and with some wear in the twilight it is difficult to distinguish between them:
Believe me, in life, the differences between these bills are even smaller, and their nominal value is significantly different. (~ 5 $ and ~ 0.1 $) respectively. Be careful.
Cash currencies to be brought along: US dollar, possibly Euro, Ros. Ruble.
The main running non-national currency in our country is the "dead raccoon." Prices in them are indicated in almost all online stores, as well as the cost of a number of goods between residents. Do not be surprised if you will be called the price of a new phone in dollars, or a TV, or an apartment / car. This is normal and you, too, get used to translating most prices into dollars in your mind. In general, everything in the country is pegged to the dollar, because the national currency has been constantly depreciating smoothly over the past 2 years, and has been “sharply” several times before. With this aspect, by the way, will be associated with job search.
Housing
The deadliest time for moving is the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, because it is during this period that the city is actively “settled” by visiting students, which seriously reduces the number of offers and raises the price tag. It is also not necessary to move to the New Year time and large vacation periods. Many Russians come to Minsk to relax in taverns and casinos, so housing may be tough (although there are hostels after ChMPoH, but you know the price tags there). Fortunately, I, as a native of the capital, did not encounter a housing issue, but only a room for “sharing” can cost more than $ 200 \ month, a one-room apartment of varying degrees of “decrepitude” - from $ 400, if memory serves, will be apart from the bare walls.
In terms of finding housing, as has already been written, if you contact the agencies, then only the “actual payment”. If you make any prepayment, then know that 60-70% of the information that will be sent to you will be outdated, i.e. You will continue your search on your own and only waste money. Classically, those who rent housing, require an advance payment for 3-6 months of residence, depending on the owner, so be prepared to immediately pay $ 1200-1500 for an apartment minimum. Remove "on mesyatsok to zp" get vryatli. + As described in another article, you will need a tenancy agreement for obtaining a residence permit, but this is another song with a chorus.
Job
In terms of job search, you can use the following resources: jobs.tut.by dev.by and linkedin. I recommend to look after the vacancies before the move (a week or two before departure) and contact a couple of potential employers in order to assess the market and its requirements. In general, there is plenty of work for a programmer of any language from 3+ years.
Be careful with local giants, wargaming.net, EPAM, iTransition (A1QA) and other big names. I can say with confidence that in the same wargaming gold mountains can promise, but in the end they can plant to check the code, and you will see the main-projects hardly.
The salary fork also varies greatly. They start from $ 500-800 for Junior and are not indicated at all for experienced Senior-specialists, and those that are indicated are boldly transferred for $ 2000-3000.
Life hacking number 3:
1. No RFP in the envelopes, so only the office sharazkins work.
2. Try to look for a job with payments tied to the US dollar, it will save you with a possible next collapse of the ruble (the latter was in 2011 at 250% +).
Well, here everyone has to choose for himself what the soul is, but it is difficult for a specialist to remain without work, the market is overheated.
Food, alcohol, clothing and other goods
Everything is simple with food. Domestic production of poor quality, usually quality, dominates the market. In any case, nobody speaks of “impossible to eat”. The situation with imported products is more complicated, the price in comparison with internal counterparts is seriously overestimated, and in principle there are not some items. I must say at once that, for example, a normal fish costs the same, normal money, for objective reasons of lack of access to the sea. Chilled, as in St. Petersburg, is not in principle, and if there is, then it is +3 prices per kilo.
Separately, I will say about clothes, and specifically, about shoes, for it was painful. If you prefer normal quality shoes, you will have to try to find them. Immediately pass by any networks "Megatop" and others, it is 100% of China falling apart in a month. Look for Vito (Finnish shoes), Salamander and other European manufacturers. Be prepared that something less adequate in quality in terms of shoes costs between $ 120-160 and above. This, in principle, is true for almost all products in the country. Jeans, shirts, jumpers, and other clothes of decent quality and appearance cost solid money against the background of the overall market supply. If you practice buying clothes over the Internet - you probably still need to practice it further, in any case, you already know what to expect.
Alcohol
It's all much better than in the same Russia, but perhaps worse than in Ukraine. From the local one can safely drink vodka (Bulbash, Svayak, Naliboki and others), with “Finn”, of course, can not be compared, but I also did not observe the “blue” counterfeit on the shelves. And if you do not suffer from a hangover, then the factory beer, although it is very doubtful in terms of dilution with alcohol in recent years. If you are a beer maniac, then you should think about European-Russian brands, or scout a store of draft beer near the house and sip an ale in the evenings, or a goat. In general, high-quality alcohol (whiskey, brandy, tequila, etc) is not cheap, and the residents of Ukraine will generally move their hair on the price in dollars. Get used to it, Wellcome Belarus.
In general, prices in the Republic of Belarus are not very different from prices in the Russian Federation, some things are still cheaper, but this is not easier. Special cheap do not wait.
alko-rest in the city and at home
I must say that expensive - it does not mean quality. The most disgusting service in my life, I received just the same in expensive places on the central avenue, once. In general, Minsk is a big and quiet village and “nightlife” in the usual sense for a Muscovite, for example, there is not much here. On weekdays, the streets die out as early as 22-23 hours, on Friday-Saturday by midnight-hour. The main guide to the institutions you can use the site relax.by , there are listed almost all the institutions of Minsk, up to the small squash in sleeping areas. In general, I will not impose my opinion, because everyone chooses himself what he likes, but personally I love the Gvozd beer restaurant on the street. They have a tasty beer, steak and crazy burgers. The average check in institutions varies greatly. In the “district” a zucchini you can have a delicious dinner without embellishment and with a couple of liters of draft Belarusian beer “beaver” for 150-200.000 rubles, while in the same nail only for a liter mug of beer you will give 100-130.000. In general, my average check, depending on the institution, varies from 150,000 to 800,000 for Friday's "get-together" with a couple of friends per person.
If you prefer calm alcoholism "at home", then immediately say that you should buy in advance. Be careful with the delivery of food to the house, the same eda.by cooperates with the not the best network of Garage facilities (where I don’t recommend to appear at all sometime) and the same pizza you will have to wait at least 30 minutes minimum by the operator. Usually, it comes already cool for indecent money. My friend in this regard has passed to their young rivals edanada.by , but in general, I advise you to either buy yourself or prepare yourself. It is not legal to buy alcohol after 23:00, but it seems that a group of baryg “alcohol at home” appeared in VKontakte for 70 thousand delivery + mark-up. In a godly way, if the holiday was really prolonged, but there was nothing to drink.
Decent rest
There are enough theaters, cinema etc. in Minsk. I recommend taking the tickets in advance and paying via the Internet by credit card, 50 cents of commission is nothing, compared to the queues and “you didn’t have enough seats”. Automatic ticket printing is, it seems, is everywhere. I also recommend doing the same with theaters, but here you can buy tickets for at least a week or two. In general, the list of all events is compiled on the main white portal afisha.tut.by . It is always possible to choose something to their liking. In terms of the theater, do not be frightened by the language barrier, feel free to go to Belarusian-language comedies, get involved for 15-20 minutes. Ukrainians in general should not have problems in this regard.
Girls and dating
Everything is simple and clear. No idea, I play DotA.
General rules of conduct
In general, calm and restraint is something like a national credo. Vivid expression of emotions, loud laughter, loud telephone conversations are not welcomed. Get used to the general leisurelyness and people who are standing on the left of the escalator, instead of going, this is the norm. Russians can immediately be seen from afar by their active gestures and loud conversations, wean them, for they can accidentally be mistaken for being upset or drunk.
The police will not break you down just like that, but there are enough patrols. Immediately I warn you that there are only two ways to solve the problem - either to talk like a human being and hide from their eyes, or to take shape in the forks. A bribe will not be taken, and an attempt to give it may shine with major troubles. About traffic police do not know, not the driver, but there, it seems like, more and more classical in terms of speeding, for example, drivers know better.
If you are caught by controllers in public ground transportation - pay a fine. It’s a long time to explain, but in general, they are equated to employees “on execution” and the police are shining for resistance -> protocol.
Through the turnstiles do not jump. Totally.
We do not meet on the streets and in transport, in any case, I have never seen anything like this and I’ll see it vryatli. You can ask for the way / time, but what you are doing in the evening is unlikely.
It is all the same to everyone how it was done in your homeland, here your rules and stories will not pass to anyone “yes, I did it myself 100 times” and will not cause approval.
In general, as my Russian comrades told me, at least I have a little “comrade major” in my head that regulates my behavior in order not to intervene in the “story” with a sad ending.
And most importantly, just do not be surprised. There is no general love for our president, as it might seem from the outside. Be in this matter, as well as in the laudatory "odes", very neat.
Now feel free to ask your questions.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/361983/
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