Singapore, 2011

By Irina Danilina moscowadv@mail.ru

The biggest country in the world The only official language – Russian. Only basics of English language are taught in public schools. Parliamentary republic Federation of 83 constituent entities with equal rights

but different in type Strong state power. Constituent entities has authority

to deal mainly with local issues Single state legislation and court system nation-wide Civil law country, but due to involvement into world

trade, common law is often chosen to govern contracts (English or US law)

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Market-based, globally integrated 10th largest in the world In 2010 Russia’s GDP $1,477trln, GDP per capital

$15,900. In terms of income per capita, Russia ranks quite

low on the scale – 51st in the World. However, if you convert that into GDP Purchasing

Power Parity (PPP), which takes into account the relative cost of living in each country, Russia’s GDP ranks 6th in the world, behind the United States, China, Japan, India and Germany.

Russia currently ranks 16th on Deloitte’s World Wealth List

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Economy has grown rapidly, fuelled largely by exports of raw materials (aluminium) and energy resources (oil, gas) A rough year in 2009, where the Russian economy dropped by 7.9%

In 2010 GDP in Russia grew by 4%, and is expected to continue growing through 2011

The growth in income has led to a renewed confidence in Russia, and a much more assertive foreign policy under its last two Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev.

Deloitte has predicted that more than 1.2 million people in Russia will become dollar millionaires by 2020

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A shrinking workforce. But this factor could be viewed as a benefit for expats

High level of corruption The protection of property rights is still weak and the

private sector remains subject to heavy state interference

Difficulty in accessing capital for smaller, non-energy companies

Dependence on the export of oil, gas and other raw materials, while other sectors of its economy are not strong enough to pick up the slack from any downturn should the global oil and gas prices fall significantly. But will it happen soon?

Poor infrastructure in need of large investments. But this is not true for major cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok

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Place of residence for all high state structures High concentration of capital Highest level of living standards, the best

infrastructure Population is officially 11,514,300. The biggest

city in Europe, 6th in the world Nationalities: East Slavic 73%, CIS republics 15%

(like Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan), Caucasian 3%, Turkic 2%, Asian 2%, other 5%

A lot of places to visit in and out of Moscow Good medicine is relatively cheap Problems: heavy traffic, overpopulated, middle

crime-rate, racial intolerance and extremism, subject to terrorist attacks

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General rule: national regime for all expats, except: when country of origin imposes restrictions on right

of Russians, then expats from that country will have the same limitations in Russia

special cases protection of public policy interests (i.e. ban on purchase of agricultural land)

Must obey strict immigration rules Employers normally take all the burden of obtaining

work permit for expats. In practice, work permit is obtained relatively easy if employer is ready to incur additional costs

Usually enjoy higher salaries than nationals Due to tradition, Europeans are treated in a privileged

way

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General rule: nothing. No sanctions for working as a lawyer without diploma

Standard practice: you need a bachelor’s diploma from a high school, but only because HR is always asking for it

Exception: to represent clients in criminal cases a lawyer must have Advocate’s license.

Bar associations are limited to a certain state, but advocates are allowed to work nation-wide

In order to enter the bar, one needs to pass exam and have 2 years of post-graduation experience. In practice one should consider corruption element as well

Having advocate’s license grants some benefits (like additional immunity from prosecution, right to get information from almost everyone, etc). Members of the bar pay for their membership.

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In-house (big variety of industries, major international companies are represented)

Law firms (national or international) Individual practice In the form of individual entrepreneur Setting your own law firm Advocate bureau (set up by several partners) Advocate cabinet (for individual Advocate) Colleague of Advocates (non-commercial

organization based on membership) Other forms: notary, judge, lawyer in state

organizations, etc.

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Year of graduation 2005

2004-2002 2001+

Top US law firm 180-210 210-270 300+

Major UK law firms 60-110 120-200 200-250

Major US law firms 60-80 110-150 150-220

Mid-size UK law firms,

European law firms,

Leading Russian law

firms

30-60 60-100 120-160

For qualified lawyers, except Partner positions. In USD, per year, gross.

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hh.RU (available in English)

Lawfirm.ru

Staffwell

Norton Caine

Yandex.ru (for general search through search vehicle)

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http://www.consultant.ru/sys/english/

http://english.garant.ru/legislation/

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Basic form of legal entity is LLC; JSC is also possible but is subject to complex regulation

Initial charter capital min. 10000 Rubles (appr. 330 USD)

Can be set up in 2 weeks

Can be set by a sole person

No requirement for management by nationals

It is extremely hard to close a company, usually takes around 1 year

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Personal assets’ protection (esp. trusts, complex corporate structures involving offshore and tax heavens)

IP protection worldwide

Private banking

Investment regulation and tax optimization

Protection and cover from criminal prosecution

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Try this: http://www.expat.ru/

Or ask me

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THANK YOU!

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Information from the following resources has been used in preparation of this presentation:

http://siberianlight.net/russiaguide/

http://russiaprofile.org/

https://www.cia.gov/

http://ru.wikipedia.org

http://www.nortoncaine.com

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