30 weighty reasons why you need to move to work in Minsk

1. Strong IT sphere

According to the statistics of the dev.by resource, there are 939 IT companies in Minsk and almost 40,000 IT specialists. This means that with an industry average yield of 10% per year, there are 4,000 vacancies in the IT sphere, one of which you can claim. The largest are EPAM and Wargaming, where several thousand employees work. It was the Minsk teams that created such masterpieces as World of Tanks, Viber.

Now many Minsk IT companies have become international, and the sun never goes over their offices.

I work in the company SOOO Game Stream, the Minsk development center Wargaming. I will not describe all the benefits, since the article is not about this, I will say one thing: this is a mega-team of enthusiasts globally with passion.

Jobs can be viewed on the above site or on jobs.tut.by.

2. HTP – preferential taxation

In Minsk, the High-Tech Park (HTP) was created, a zone that allows IT companies to conduct business on preferential terms.

This includes a lower income tax (9% instead of 12%) and preferential taxation of companies. For example, an ordinary company pays about 35% of an employee’s salary tax, and an IT company pays the same amount, but not with full wages, but with a minimum salary in the republic, which is about 1 to 5%.

And if, for example, in Ukraine you are registered as an individual entrepreneur in the organization of an IT company, then in Belarus you will be taken into the staff with a full-time work book.

3. Everyone speaks Russian

Moving a Ukrainian or Russian to Minsk will be extremely simple, as everyone here speaks Russian. Russian is the state language along with Belarusian. In addition, Ukrainians will receive a pleasant benefit in the form of almost one hundred percent understanding of pure Belarusian speech, since words that are not similar to Russian speech are 80% similar to Ukrainian ones.

4. Simple registration

It’s very easy to be legally in the country. To do this, it is enough to have two things: a labor contract and an apartment lease contract, registered in the WEC.

The algorithm is something like this:

1. You get a job offer from the company.
2. You send copies of your documents, the company starts processing an application for permission for your employment. It is said that in 95% of cases, companies receive such permits from the first time, in other cases – from the second. This takes two weeks.
3. You come to Minsk. As a rule, companies provide housing for the first time, so you can easily look for a home for rent. There are a lot of sites, there are real estate agencies. I searched through Molnar and Square Meter. I looked at the apartments on hata.by and realt.by.
4. You find an apartment, sign a lease with the landlord, register it in the VEZ. From now on you can be hired.
5. At work, you prepare a package of documents that you bring to the migration service. One or two weeks of waiting, and you get a temporary registration. Surprisingly, there are almost no queues. I have two visits (to bring documents and pick up the registration) took 60 minutes.
6. Now you can be a year in the country legally. From this point on, Ukrainians do not need to fill out the migration card at the customs.

5. Simple registration of a SIM-card, a bank card, an account in foreign currency

All that a normal person needs is a SIM card and a bank card. To issue them is extremely easy. A SIM card can be obtained even without registration, it will be called a “guest card”. In general, it is quite acceptable. I took the MTS, someone takes Life. Immediately received a full 3G Internet – $ 3 for 1 GB for a month.

The bank card is made out too easily. You just need a passport and a code (it does not matter if it’s stuck or normal). You can immediately open an account in the currency and then in the online banking to transfer part of the salary to dollars.

My bank is Belinvestbank. State, one of the largest, with very convenient Internet banking:

• Easy payment of utilities (you only need to enter the name of the utility company and your account – the system will automatically load your details and bill the amount).
• It is convenient to order an additional card – right in the Internet banking, then you only need to collect it in the bank (10 minutes).
• In the banks themselves, the electronic queue is convenient.
• Payment by the card through the Internet is protected by entering an additional password (if paid on any site you are sent to your bank’s website to enter the password, and only then the payment is made).
• By the way, the interest rate on the balance on the card is 24% per annum (if the balance is from $ 350). You can issue a deposit card with a rate of over 40% per annum. All, of course, in rubles.
• It is easy to transfer money to a dollar card and back.

6. Good medicine

Since government agencies have not yet encountered, but there are commercial clinics here. I was several times in the clinic “Lode”. Staff is friendly, modern rooms, equipment too. Doctors are ordinary, however, as in Kiev. Physicians, doctors, doctors coming from ordinary hospitals work in the “Medico”, “Boris”, “Dobrobut”. I think that this is the same.

By the way, in pharmacies here assortment times 2-3 less than in Ukrainian. In this there is a plus, as there are few expensive drugs, the price of which is determined by the advertising budget.

Here I met for the first time with a remedy for the common cold Snoop. Not advertising – this is a real find. One injection, and a cold all day will not happen. It costs 3 dollars, enough for a long time (and in Ukraine I bought expensive “Sinupret” in tablets, since the sprays drastically dried the nose and caused irritation).

They say that antibiotics can not be bought here without a prescription. It is not true. I bought at the recommendation of the doctor “Augmentin”, my recipe was not even asked, although he was with me. Maybe the druggist was a telepath. ???? Pharmacies are here as usual, working only until the evening, and on duty, working around the clock.

The easiest way to search for drugs is on the tabletka.by site, it shows how the availability of drugs in different pharmacies, as well as the prices of medicines.

7. Convenient movement around the city (public transport, taxi)

You can move around the city by public transport or taxi (until you brought your car).

Public transport is simply beautiful:

• Single payment card for travel in the metro, tram, trolley, city bus. Everywhere there are readers, so paying by card is easy. But for those who like tickets, there are electronic composters. The journey costs an average of 30 cents.
• All public transport is extremely clean both inside and outside.
• Modern trolley buses, buses, subway cars, trams.
• An average of three to seven routes pass through the stop. I often see three trolley buses stopping to stop. The interval of movement is small.

I planned all my routes in the Wikiroutes program. And in it you can watch where you are going and when to get out.

Taxi:

• 7788, it is the same taxi “Almaz” – cheap and angry. A lot of machines work for them, so ordering is usually not a problem. That me bribed – it is possible through the site to configure the USSD-request for pre-defined addresses and then call a taxi by clicking on the contact in the address book. Recently started to put Wi-Fi.
• 135, it is the taxi “Capital” – the average price segment, better cars.
• Taxi “Friday” is a bonus. In the park only VW Passat B6 and B7. Their rules: the driver in classic pants and a shirt, neatly trimmed, taciturn. There is Wi-Fi and payment through the terminal.

By the way, taxing without obtaining special license plates and registration in a taxi is not accepted here.

Never take a taxi that stands near a train station, a shop or somewhere else, otherwise a one and a half double tariff is provided to you.

8. Quality products and a large selection of imports

My first acquaintance happened with the “Rublevsky” store. There are a lot of them around the city, every house has it. The assortment was weak, the store itself was dark, and I was a little upset. But then I discovered for myself “Hippo”, “Space”, “Crown” and realized that there is a food paradise.

What are the advantages of Minsk:

• Very rigid GOSTs and norms. Bad products are simply not allowed on the shelves.
• It is possible not to follow the terms of sales of products, they are afraid of inspection bodies and monitor this.
• Very tasty and at the same time cheap marshmallows and marmalade.
• A lot of good imports at an adequate price.
• I did not meet rotten vegetables or fruits. In one store I even saw a large trash can with a lid and the inscription “If you did not like the fruit – put it here”.
• Many different sauces. There is an authentic Carbonara sauce of Italian origin, which from macaroni makes a dish worthy of the Michelin restaurant.
• A good choice of imported beer.
• Very tasty and always fresh products Santa Bremor (local company). I bought even Olivier for laughs, but then I was surprised by the freshness and taste of the salad. Quality of crab sticks at height! Much better than Vici.
• Good fresh meat and good stuffing.
• Large selection of imported cheeses at reasonable prices.
• There is a local mascarpone and ricotta at ridiculous prices ($ 2 per pot), which taste is not inferior to imported ones. A lot of Jyugas cheese from neighboring Lithuania is an affordable alternative to Parmesan cheese.
• Delicious and affordable dairy products of the firm “Savushkin”. Became her fan. I recommend yogurts. Bypass even Ehrmann.

9. The road to Vilnius – 2:30 (Europe, IKEA, restaurants, shopping centers)

A real find for me was a trip to Vilnius. The train is only 2 hours 30 minutes and very comfortable, the journey costs 15 euros.

Vilnius immediately opens access to the best European buns:

• IKEA store;
• a huge number of restaurants and cafes;
• Beautiful center with buildings of the XVIII-XIX centuries and narrow streets;
• shops with cheap amber;
• the shopping center “Acropolis”, it is simply huge and absorbed all brand shops.

I can write a lot about Vilnius, but this article is about Minsk.

10. Excellent roads

For a long time I have not seen the road with 11 lanes (five in one direction and six in the other) – long live Partizansky Prospekt.

During the war,> 50% Minsk was destroyed, therefore, unlike the cities, the construction of which took place even with wagons and pedestrians, it was immediately built for cars. Therefore, there are very wide roads, there is a ring road. You can drive from one part of Minsk to another in just 30 minutes. Roads in good condition.

I have not yet met the abandoned sites with pits. Pits met, but small, and they were quickly patched up.

Here you can not be afraid to buy Smart or sports cars.

11. The proximity of the Vilnius airport with loukosterov, railway junction – Warsaw, Prague

Continuing the topic of foreign countries, I will say that different low-costers fly from Vilnius: Ryanair, Wizz Air and others. In addition, trains run from here to Prague, Warsaw, Riga.

12. European values

According to their culture and values, the citizens of Minsk are very close to Europeans. It’s hard to describe in words, but you can feel it. These values ​​are manifested in the observance of cleanliness, in following the rules and laws, in the style of driving, in how you are treated in restaurants, shops and other institutions.

13. People – kind, balanced, hospitable

The greatest value of Minsk is its people. Belorussians themselves say about themselves “memorials” – balanced. And this is really true.

This is manifested in kindness, the absence of radical views (both in politics, and in religion or culture). It seems to me that the Belarusians simply do not have a gene for envy, aggression, condemnation. But this does not prevent them from being quite bright people.

14. Safety in the city and on the roads

The speed limit here is 60 + 9 km / h, this is enough for safe driving. I saw very few accidents on the roads. If it was normal in Kiev to see one accident per day, then here is one accident in two weeks.

In the city itself you feel yourself also safe: the streets are well lit, there are practically no homeless people, drug addicts, alcoholics, people of bandit appearance.

There are no loud screams at the night of the roaming company.

15. Cleanliness in the city

What exactly you will never see in Minsk is a garbage dump somewhere near the crossing, or in a snowdrift, or near a broken urn. Here they clean it regularly. Even at the station, it seems, sterile cleanliness reigns. I usually do not like train stations, but here the station is clean and modern compared to the middle airport.

I have never had to wash shoes in Minsk. It happens only in Europe. Machines are also washed here very rarely, since there is no dirt and sand on the road. I was very surprised when all roads were clean after the end of winter.

16. Predictability and stability

When you live in Minsk, there is some slight feeling of stability and predictability. It seems that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow there will not be any force majeure.

Probably something similar woman feels behind the back of a strong man. Either cleanliness and order in the city create such a feeling, or lack of a lot of negative news.

17. It is easy to bring a car

To bring a car to a Russian is as easy as going to another city. The only nuance is a green card, which is inexpensive. A little more complicated than a Ukrainian: you will need to arrange insurance (“green”) and a declaration at the customs.

In this case, the car may not even belong to the driver. Although in Belarus there is no such thing as a power of attorney on a car, a Ukrainian at a customs house can ask for it, so it’s better to place it with the mark “the right to export cars abroad.”

A Ukrainian has the right to travel to Belarus for up to three months, and then must either leave and re-enter, or extend the registration to one year at a customs office in Minsk (on the basis of a labor contract).

These terms can not be violated, otherwise the car can be confiscated.

18. Excellent restaurants

Lovers of delicious food here will not be disappointed. I was in such institutions: Spoon, “Chekhov”, Bistro De Luxe, Tapas Bar, “Insomnia”, “Gallery Ў”, country club Robinson – everywhere excellent European cuisine and delicious wine. In addition, for lovers of sweet here is Cinnabon with my favorite cinnamon rolls. Of course, there is also McDonalds, which, however, surprised me with a complete lack of Wi-Fi.

19. Modern shopping centers

The first store I went to was GUM. He caused a shock and a panic attack. I thought that the whole of Minsk is like that. Who misses the scoop – welcome to GUM on Independence Avenue. But then I had an acquaintance with the “Crown”, “Castle” and Galileo – excellent shopping centers with branded shops.

Upset Arena City: in a good neighborhood, beautiful externally, but absolutely useless shops inside.

20. Cycling and running parks

What really is much in Minsk and what he subjectively bypasses even Vilnius – these are bicycle paths. They are just a lot on the sidewalks. In addition, they are in the parks, you can also run there. There are a lot of parks in Minsk, and they are all well-groomed.

21. Infrastructure for children

Children’s playgrounds, an abundance of gardens, a European (truly) zoo, water parks, a dolphinarium, children’s play centers in shopping centers – there is everything your child needs. In addition, there are a lot of private developmental activities in each district.

22. It is easy to accumulate money, pay off abroad

In order to save part of the salary, you absolutely do not need to go to the bank and open unwieldy deposits, which then can not be removed ahead of schedule. The rates on plastic cards are quite acceptable here: from 24 to 40% per annum on Belarusian rubles and up to 5% per annum on dollar cards. At the same time, money can be easily removed from the ATM and paid in the terminal.

Cards can also be used abroad with the same ease as in Minsk. During payment in online stores, there are also no problems.

23. You can withdraw dollars from an ATM

I often noticed at ATMs the currency selection point that you want to withdraw. Somehow I tried to take down 100 dollars – it turned out! There is no such thing in Ukraine or Russia. The ATMs in the city are full and the money to withdraw is not a problem.

24. Absence of traffic jams.

In Minsk, there is no traffic jam. Here you do not need to go to work for 1-2 hours or hire a driver (as people in Moscow do in order to work in the car on the way to work). In the morning, in the evening, for lunch – you can always drive from one part of the city to another in 30 minutes.

As a result – saving fuel, time and nerves.

As an additional pleasant result – there is no such rudeness on the roads, as in Kiev or Moscow. No one is in a hurry, so there is no need to prune, squeeze in at the intersections, go around the roadside and so on.

25. A huge selection of kindergartens and schools

Recently, I conducted a small experiment: I went around my area within a radius of 800 meters – counted five schools and five kindergartens. Each school has its own stadium with excellent coverage. The kindergartens everywhere have children’s playgrounds, quite modern. Neat buildings, pavilions and fences.

26. You do not feel like a foreigner

Here nobody treats you like a foreigner. In a taxi, shops, at work – anywhere you are an ordinary person. I watched people: even the representatives of Asian and African peoples of Minsk react very calmly.

Here in 80% of cases in the restaurant I hear English speech, and no one turns to them to carefully study the foreigners.

27. Cheap medicines

More and more often I notice requests to bring medicines from Belarus. I compared prices for some of them, and very often drugs in Belarus cost 1.5-2 times cheaper than in Ukraine. Did not study why, but it’s a fact.

28. Pure nature

The nature here is simply magical. The first thing that surprised when entering Belarus on a car is a very neat forest. All trees are level, there is no debris between them. Obviously, they look after forests and plantations here. I did not see such things in Poland, only in Germany. Well, now in Minsk.

29. There is no need for air conditioners

When I was looking for an apartment for rent, I noticed the lack of air conditioners in the photo. And then they explained to me: here it’s not so hot in summer so that you need an air conditioner. From this, all the buildings seem more neat.

This summer it was hot 2-3 weeks, but, in comparison with the same Kiev, the heat is very easily tolerated.

30. Balm per capita nostalgic

Although Minsk in its majority is very European, nostalgic for the USSR can still find something for themselves here:

• Architecture. There really is a beautiful architecture of the times of the USSR, mainly in the center of Minsk.
• GOSTs. All products have different certificates (EAS, STB), which really confirm the quality.
• Purity. It seems to me that it was for the purity and accuracy that the USSR was loved, since immediately after its disintegration the streets were not well maintained, the roads were broken, garbage everywhere.
• There is no struggle with Soviet symbols. Stars, obelisks, memorials, street names are very many authentic since the times of the USSR.
• There are still shops and catering establishments where you can recall the USSR (simple interior, old windows and refrigerators, vendors’ clothing).

Summing up, I will say: Minsk is really cool!

By the way, after reading, do not forget to update your resume (benefit is already ready for you 33 councils), your profile in LinkedIn and prepare yourself for the interview (remember 50 lifjhaks).