Recommendations for those who want to move to Minsk

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In recent months, at least 2 articles on how IT specialists moved to Minsk in search of a better share have slipped on Habr-GT resources. I left a number of comments for each article and looking at a rather warm welcome from the community of such materials, I think it’s time, nevertheless, to draw up 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 the Minsker, three life hacks and one flat joke.



Where to begin


First of all, coming to Belarus, Belarus, in order to merge with the locals and not cause negative, start calling the country Belarus (from the official name the Republic of Belarus). Maybe this will seem insignificant to you, and you will not meet any serious outwardly expressed negativity, but believe me, the inhabitants of the country, especially the young ones, “Belarus” terribly cuts their ears. Those who grew up under the USSR are quite neutral in this regard, for they have lived enough time in “Belarus”.

Lifehack No. 1: Upon arrival at the station \ to the airport, do not rush to take a taxi, which stands near the building. These are bombers who wait for naive visitors and take 3-4 prices at least for the same distance. If you have heavy bags on the 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” will save you 10-20 $ minimum. The main services of Minsk: 135.by 7788.by , everywhere there are forms of online ordering, or a call to the same numbers will save you from unclean “vodyatly”.

Immediately decide on the mobile operator, preferably, even before departure. Currently, there are 3 players in the country: MTS , Velcom and Life :)

Your humble servant has been using Velcom for 10 years already, a little more expensive than other operators, but more adequately according to many years of observation. It should be understood that my operator is with me for “universal communication”. For mobile Internet only you need to choose carefully.

Be extremely careful with Life :) contracts, as 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 to terminate for a year and a half (YES! They practiced this).

Money


I highly recommend that immediately upon arrival in the city, getting off the peron, go look for an exchange office for currencies. Do not worry, in this country, exchangers have the right to place only banks and the exchange rate at the station does not differ in any way from the exchange rate at the head office and minimally differs from bank to bank. For every hundred dead presidents you will receive an awesome set of notes in denominations of 100,000 and 200,000 Belarusians. The official rate at the time of writing is 10,660 rubles per US dollar, thus, for $ 100 you will be given about 1,066,000 (one million sixty six thousand) rubles, with a maximum face value of 200,000.

Lifehack No. 2. Be careful with bills of 50,000 and 1,000 rubles. They are printed in the same color scheme and with some wear in the twilight it is difficult to distinguish them:




Believe me, in life the differences between these bills are even smaller, and their face value is significantly different. (~ 5 $ and ~ 0.1 $) respectively. Be careful.

Cash currencies to bring with you: US dollar, possibly Euro, ROS. Ruble.

Our main non-national currency is the “killed raccoon”. Prices are indicated in almost all online stores, as well as the cost of a number of goods between residents. Do not be surprised if they tell you the price of a new phone in bucks, or a TV, or an apartment / car. This is normal and you also get used to translating most prices into the dollar in your mind. In general, everything in the country is pegged to the dollar, because the national currency has been constantly depreciating for the last 2 years smoothly, and before that, “sharply” several times. Incidentally, the search for work will also be associated with this aspect.

Housing


The deadliest time for moving is the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, because it was during this period that the city was actively “populated” by visiting students, which seriously reduces the number of offers and raises the price tag. Also, do not move to the New Year time and periods of major vacations. Many Russians come to Minsk to have fun in taverns and casinos, so housing can be tight (although there are hostels after ChMPoX, but you understand the price tags there). Fortunately, as a native of the capital, I did not come across a housing problem, 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, if at all there it will be besides the bare walls.
In terms of housing search, as already mentioned, if you contact the agencies, then only "payment upon delivery". If you make any prepayment, then know that 60-70% of the information that will be transferred to you will be outdated, i.e. you continue your searches yourself and only waste your 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 per apartment minimum. Remove "for a month to sn" get vryatli. + As described in another article, you will need a rental agreement for a residence permit, but this is another song with a refrain.

Job


In terms of job search, you can use the following resources: jobs.tut.by dev.by and linkedin. I recommend to look for vacancies before the move itself (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 they can promise the golden mountains, but in the end they can put me to check the code, and you will see the main projects vryatly.

The salary fork is also very different. They start from 500-800 $ for Junior and are not indicated at all for experienced Senior-specialists, and those that are indicated can safely pass for 2000-3000 $.

Life hack number 3:
1. No RFP in envelopes, so only the "Sharazhkin" offices work.
2. Try to look for work with payments tied to the US dollar, this will save you in the event of another collapse of the ruble (the latter was 250% + in 2011).

Well, here everyone has to choose for themselves what the soul lies to, but it’s difficult for a specialist to stay without work, the market is overheated.

Food, alcohol, clothing and other goods


Food is simple. Dominant products on the market are domestic products of good quality, usually of good quality. In any case, no one talks about “impossible to eat”. Things are more complicated with imported products, the price is seriously overestimated in comparison with domestic counterparts, and in principle some positions are not available. I must say right away that, for example, a normal fish costs the same normal money, for objective reasons of the 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, because it was painful. If you prefer normal quality boots, then you still have to try to find them. Immediately pass by any MegaTop networks and others, this is 100% China falling apart in a month. Look for branded stores Vito (Finnish shoes), Salamander and other European manufacturers. Be prepared that something more or less adequate in quality in terms of shoes costs from $ 120-160 and above. This, in principle, is true for almost all goods in the country. Jeans, shirts, jumpers, and other clothes of decent quality and appearance cost a lot of money against the general market offer. If you practice buying clothes over the Internet, you should probably practice it further, in any case, you already know what to expect.

Alcohol

Everything is much better here than in Russia itself, but perhaps worse than in Ukraine. From the local one you can safely drink vodka (bulbash, pile, naliboks and others), of course, can not be compared with the “Finnish”, but I also did not observe the “blue” counterfeit on the shelves. And if you do not suffer from a hangover, then factory beer, although it is very doubtful in terms of dilution with alcohol in recent years. If you’re a beer maniac, you should think about European-Russian brands, or scout a draft beer shop near the house and sip ale or a draft goat in the evenings. In general, high-quality alcohol (whiskey, brandy, tequila etc) is not cheap, and a resident of Ukraine will generally have hair on his head moving from prices in dollars. Get used to Wellcome that Belarus.

In general, prices in Belarus do not differ much from prices in the Russian Federation, some things are still cheaper, but this is not easier. Do not expect much cheapness.

alcohol-relaxation in the city and at home


I must say right away that it’s expensive - it doesn’t mean quality. The most disgusting service in my life I received just the same in expensive institutions on central avenue, once. In general, Minsk is a large and quiet village and has a "nightlife" in the usual sense for a Muscovite, for example, there isn’t much here. On weekdays, the streets die out at 22-23 hours, on Friday-Saturday by midnight-hour. The main guide to institutions you can use the site relax.by, there are listed almost all the institutions of Minsk, up to small zucchini in residential areas. In general, I will not impose my opinion, because everyone chooses for himself what he likes, but personally I love the Nail beer restaurant on the street. They have delicious beer, steak and crazy burgers. The average bill for institutions varies greatly. In the “district” 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, when in the same nail you will give 100-130,000 for a liter mug of beer. In general, my average bill, depending on the institution, varies from 150,000 to 800,000 for a Friday "get-together" with a couple of friends per person.

If you prefer calm alcoholism "at home", then I immediately say that it is worth buying in advance. Be careful with home delivery, sameeda.by collaborates with the not the best network of Garage establishments (where I do not recommend appearing someday) and you will wait for the same pizza with the operator’s declared time of +30 minutes at least. Usually, it comes already cool for indecent money. My friend in this regard went to their young competitors edanada.by , but in general, I advise you either to buy it yourself or cook it yourself. After 23:00 you can’t buy alcohol legally, but it seems like a VKontakte group of hucksters “alcohol at home” appeared for 70 thousand delivery + extra charge. Divine, if the holiday has really dragged on, but there’s nothing to drink.

Decent rest


There are enough theaters, cinema etc. in Minsk I recommend taking tickets in advance and paying via the Internet with a credit card, 50 cents of commission is nothing compared to the queues and “you didn’t have enough seats”. Ticket printing machines are, it seems, already everywhere. I also recommend doing the same with theaters, but here it’s classic to buy tickets for at least a week or two. In general, a list of all the events is compiled on the main white-portal afisha.tut.by . There is always the opportunity to choose something to your liking. In terms of the theater, do not be afraid of the language barrier, feel free to go to the Belarusian-language comedies, get involved in 15-20 minutes. Ukrainians should not have any problems in this regard.

Girls and dating


Everything is simple and clear here. No idea, I'm playing DotA.

General rules of conduct


In general, calm and restraint is something like a national creed. A bright expression of emotions, loud laughter, loud phone conversations are not welcome. Get used to the general leisure and people who are standing on the left on the escalator, instead of walking, this is the norm. Russians can be immediately seen from afar by their active gestures and loud conversation, wean them, for they can by chance be mistaken for a “stubborn” or drunk.

The police just won’t break into you, but there are enough patrols. I immediately warn that there are only two ways to solve the problem - either to speak humanly and disappear out of their eyes, or to take shape in props. They will not take a bribe, and an attempt to give it can shine with major troubles. I don’t know about the traffic police, not the driver, but there, it seems, more and more classically in terms of speeding, for example, it is more visible to drivers.

If you were caught by controllers in public ground transport - pay a fine. It’s a long time to explain, but in general, they are equated to employees “at execution” and the police shine for resistance -> protocol.

Do not jump through the turnstiles. Absolutely.

We don’t get to know each other on the streets and in transport, in any case, I have never seen such a thing and I’ll see it vryatli. You can ask for the road / time, but what you do in the evening is unlikely.

It doesn’t matter to everyone how it was instituted in your own country, here your rules and stories to someone “yes, I did it 100 times in my home” will not work and will not be approved.

On the whole, as my Russian comrades told me, at least in my head, there is a little “Comrade Major” in my head that regulates my behavior so as not to get into a “history” with a sad end.

And most importantly, just do not be surprised. There is no general love for our president, as it might seem from the outside. Be on this issue, as well as in laudatory "odes", very careful.

Now feel free to ask your questions.


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