Russian Tech Trade Faces ‘Mind Drain’ as Staff Flee

“We don’t have sufficient high quality flats for extremely educated individuals with excessive salaries and excessive requirements,” stated Aram Shahbandarian, a former Google worker based mostly in Yerevan who helps many Russians transfer to town. “Yerevan is cracking.”

Vahan Kerobyan, Armenia’s economic system minister, stated in an interview that as a rustic with a strategic relationship with Russia, it was not advertising and marketing itself as making an attempt to drag corporations out of Russia, however that if corporations determined to maneuver, it will work to accommodate them.

“The Armenian tech group is offering assist to their Russian buddies, and the federal government may be very a lot frightened about giving Russian corporations a pleasant place that isn’t too costly the place they’ll work,” he stated. Mr. Kerobyan estimated that 43,000 individuals had moved from Russia to Armenia, half of whom maintain Russian passports and half Armenian passports.

Miro, a U.S. software program firm, chartered flights to Yerevan for its Russian staff and moved them into two accommodations within the coronary heart of town, Mr. Kerobyan stated. X-tensive, a software program growth firm in Russia, has additionally moved its staff to the Armenian metropolis as a result of its major shopper, ServiceTitan, has an workplace there, he stated.

Miro has stated publicly that it was shifting its staff out of Russia. X-tensive didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Lots of these staff could ultimately transfer on to different locations as a result of visa restrictions require them to depart their present house after a sure variety of days. Many are uncertain the place they may go. Others are planning strikes to up-and-coming tech hubs farther away, corresponding to Dubai and Lisbon.

Artem Taganov, founder and chief government of a Russian start-up referred to as HintEd, stated he knew about 70 founders of Russian corporations who, like him, had fled to Armenia. If entrepreneurs keep in Russia, he stated, their corporations can serve solely the native market.