Russian initiative in Europe
— What are you doing in Slovenia?
— Actually, I came to Slovenia to open a telecommunications company there. In principle, I did, but immediately after moving we needed a service to help Russian-speaking immigrants. So we came and realized that we need a Russian doctor, because there is no insurance yet, you do not know the language well. Or, for example, a Russian confectioner is needed to make the Napoleon cake loved in Russia. How will a foreigner understand what to cook? Not possible. But such specialists are difficult to find (we call them assistants). Google? How? The Russian confectioner in Ljubljana? Well, you won’t find anything.
And so we decided to make such a catalog of ads, in which all Russian-speaking immigrants will gather. So we found Uehat.com and launched it in mid-February. Now it’s time to collect users. We have exceeded the limit of 500 first service announcements in all countries. We hope to cross the 2 thousand limit by the end of May and reach 15-20 thousand by the end of the year.
We also want to make such a guide market for expats and tourists. For example, where can you find a horse farm with a good and inexpensive restaurant 20 minutes from Ljubljana? This is hard to find on the internet.
— Is it difficult to open your company in another country?
— Easy to open — they help well with this, but it’s a little harder to stand up and earn solid Euros. It has a different language, mentality, market characteristics. Slovenia’s population is only 2 million, comparable to a city in Russia.
The business mentality here is much slower. Here you always have to wait a day or two or a week after sending an email. As in Moscow, there will be no answer within 15 minutes, you should not wait.
Surprisingly, everything here is based on trust – there is no such thing as a “prepaid service”. For example, if you have a negative balance in the Russian Federation, that’s it, no connection. There is postpay, as in the 2000s, where we use communications for a month and only then pay. Coming from Moscow to such a conservative country for business is quite problematic.
Photo from personal archive
Did you choose Slovenia right away or were there other options?
— Initially we also set up telecommunications networks in the Netherlands, and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic. We did something, but we caught the coronavirus and had to close the project. At that time we were already looking at another country. A large part of the rural population of Slovenia to whom we provide the internet has good relaxation so it suited us.
— Where is it easier to do business: in Russia or in Europe?
– I do not know, I can say this in Russia in January, because everything is clear there. Now I don’t know, I can use foreign equipment in Slovenia, I don’t think much about the exchange rate, logistics. In this context, of course, it is easier here, if you do not take into account that everything is very slow.
40% – for taxes / lifetime of an IT professional in Europe
— How about working for IT professionals in Slovenia?
— Slovenia is not very standard.
It is impossible for a Russian, Kazakh, Ukrainian IT specialist to get a job in a Slovenian company.
The market is small and there are enough Latvians, Poles with lower demands. In the sense that the average salary in the Baltic market is lower than in Slovenia. But Russian IT specialists with EU passports will be accepted without any problems – most of them depend on the passport.
We see a lot of IT people who moved here a long time ago, but they work in foreign companies in their specialty. They live conditionally in Slovenia and work in other countries. Slovenia is still a comfortable country to live in, it’s cheap, it’s geographically well located.
— Are there many opportunities for IT professionals in Slovenia?
– For example, we want another Feedback project. For example, after going to a store or beauty salon in Russia, you receive an SMS or a robot call and asks you to evaluate the work of the seller or company. There is no such thing here, so we decided to fill this gap. In Slovenia and similar countries, the IT sector is less developed than in Russia.
Well imagine food delivery only popping up during the coronavirus, the guys from Yandex would laugh now. I mean, there’s hardly any competition here.
For example, the first food delivery service was made by Russian-speaking guys, and until 2020 no one thought of delivery here. There are a few other startups founded by Russian speakers, I can’t say that they came from Russia, maybe Ukraine. But all these IT companies that have come here recently have a huge impact on the country’s technology market. There are no collectors here, if you need to call a taxi, each fleet has its own application. Banking solutions here are not developed as strongly as in Russia, in this sense, Slovenia is technologically far behind and Russian minds add dynamics.
— Many IT workers living in Slovenia talk about high taxes. If it’s not a secret, how long will it take for them?
— There is a difference whether you are a tax resident or not. Tax residency saves you money, but not so much. On average, almost 40% of the salary goes to taxes.
Photo from personal archive
Is the rent expensive?
– After February, the market as a whole grew, but our host has not yet increased the price. Compared to Singapore or New York, no. Let’s put it this way: a three-room apartment of about 100 square meters with a parking space in an underground garage in the center of Ljubljana costs about 2,000 euros (174,000 rubles at the current exchange rate), plus a shared apartment of about 300 square meters. at the top. This is a communal flat like all over Europe, my dear.
– What about salaries in Slovenia – about 2 thousand is spent on rent, 40% is tax, how much money is left for life?
Slovenes do not live like that, they live modestly, 1200-1400 remain after taxes are deducted. For immigrants, everything is different, someone rents a house, someone rents a room. But if you take the average, then if you can earn 5-6 thousand per family, you will be quite satisfied with yourself. Enough for a good life, for winter and summer holidays, of course, you will not be able to fly to the Maldives, but enough for Spain or Croatia.
moving to Slovenia
What difficulties did you encounter while moving?
— I am still a business immigrant, in this sense it was a little easier – consultants helped open a company, went through the procedure for obtaining documents. There were no difficulties in this regard. Otherwise, the problems are standard: it is difficult to make an appointment with a doctor, arrange children for school, change tires outside the city. Here is a good example from life: It is very difficult to explain to a mechanic outside the capital that you need to replace the rear pads on a car. They do not speak English at all or are very weak.
— Didn’t you know the local language?
– No, I came and started learning Slovenian. I haven’t learned it yet, but I’ve already reached a level that will allow me to calmly communicate on everyday and work-related matters. I also worked out three or four times a week.
The Slovenian language is similar to Russian in general, so there were no major problems.
But meanwhile, big cities like Ljubljana have been made into English, so you can calmly communicate in English here. At first, I mainly spoke English. But if you go to the village, of course the difficulties begin.
— How is Ljubljana different from Moscow?
– Everybody. Ljubljana is one of the smallest capitals in Europe, only 350 thousand people, no metro, no tram, everything is within walking distance. Venice is 2 hours away and Vienna is about 3 hours away and you find yourself in megacities. Ljubljana is a very provincial city in this sense.
– Your family, wife, children live with you. What are they doing?
– Children attend a Slovenian school and a regular school. They accept foreigners without any problems, the state provides two hours of Slovenian language per week, this is a free story, everyone is very friendly, there is no school uniform, the program is calm and measured, there is no strain on the soul. The children, who did not know a word, joined the circle very quickly, literally within a week.
Photo from personal archive
— Compared to Russian schools, which would you prefer?
– Slovenian, of course. We went to a special school in Russia, here – to a regular school. In a private school, we could get for money what is given here for free to everyone. This is a huge plus.
Was it difficult for the family to adapt to life in another country?
– We wrote papers for children to school, for example, “Call my mom” or “I’m thirsty”. But after two weeks they were no longer needed. My wife spoke English so she spoke English at first.
They will surely answer and help you in Ljubljana, they will not turn their noses here.
He now attends intensive Slovenian courses and is even ahead of me, despite having studied for a total of two months.
– On the Internet you can often find stories where neighbors in Europe “give up” each other. Is the snitch culture undeveloped in Slovenia?
– We were afraid of this, the neighbors will say, that’s all. But we have never experienced this. Here they joke that the main thing is to properly sort the garbage, if you do this, then there will be no problems at all. Even if you do something wrong, they will come to you and say they don’t get it.
— In general, how do people in Slovenia treat you?
– The scarecrows we can read on social networks have nothing to do with Slovenia. Even after the start of the situation in Ukraine, we have never encountered a bad attitude towards us. In this regard, on the contrary, the owner of the apartment wrote to us that there are no problems, everyone understands everything. If we are talking about the mentality, then “Slovenes are successful Slavs” – such jokes are made here. They are closer to Europeans: they have a smile on their face, they are friendly, they respect each other, their streets are clean.
– Do you miss Russia?
– Sometimes I miss my family, but it’s probably not yet past that time for me to start missing my homeland. They say such a depression pit comes in a year, we’ll see what happens in the summer. We probably won’t be back for the next few years, then we’ll see.
Source: Gazeta
