Following the arrest of Michael Calvey, the senior partner at Baring Vostok Capital, ever more people are asking whether it is possible for foreigners to work in Putin’s Russia. Andrey Movchan of the Movchan Group says that the basic rules are simple: “don’t take, don’t give and don’t work.”
But in a Facebook post picked up by numerous Russian outlets, the businessman expands those words into ten rules for all foreigners who want to work in Russia without losing their integrity or their property. An abbreviated translation of these is given below:
“1. Don’t have any business dealings with state structures of Russia.
2. Don’t occupy any position and don’t work in or with state organs and institutions allied with them.
3. Don’t have assets on the territory of the Russian Federation which cannot be easily and quickly shifted abroad.
4. Don’t do business or enter into partnerships with private persons who are partners, friends, clients and agents of the state or the circle of people who control the state in Russia.”
5. Never work for oligarchs or private persons who are partners, friends, clients or agents of the state of the circle of people who control the state in Russia.
6. Don’t create on the territory of the Russian Federation businesses which by their activity come into conflict with the interests of the oligarchs or private persons who are partners, friends, clients or agents of the state of the circle of people who control the state in Russia.
7. Don’t establish on the territory of the Russian Federation businesses which will bring real profits except those based on intellectual property, brands or one’s own know-how, collective knowledge or ability.
8. Never count on being able to defend one’s interests in court.
9. Never get involved in any actions outside the limits of your natural actions in business or private life.
10. Never put yourself in a position when your immediate and irreversible departure from Russia will be impossible or difficult.”
If you live according to those rules, Movchan says, “ENJOY.” It’s true that violating these rules won’t necessary lead to disaster, but it will mean that anyone who does will be at risk of reprisal when it suits the powers that be in Russia. Everyone needs to remember at all times that these rules “are written in blood.”
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