The Kremlin can’t keep its tech elite. Hundreds of thousands of Russian IT specialists are leaving their homeland. One of them is Roman Ivanov. In Moscow he had a well-paid job as a software engineer. Now he is starting from scratch in a Berlin startup.
“I don’t like my home country Russia anymore.” Roman Ivanov hesitates for a moment. He’s never said it so clearly before. Nevertheless, the decision to leave Russia was not difficult for the 32-year-old. “I was always against our government,” he explains to ntv.de. Ivanov has long supported opposition politician Alexei Navalny. Since he was imprisoned, he has been toying with the idea of ??leaving his homeland. When Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine, Ivanov and his wife finally packed their bags.
Last year they became parents to a little boy. Ivanov wants to give him a better education. He came to Germany for this and is now starting from scratch again. He had friends, family and, above all, a well-paid job in Moscow.
As a software engineer, Ivanov worked for a long time at Sberbank, the largest Russian bank. Shortly before the war began, he moved to the tech giant and Google competitor Yandex. Salaries of $5,000 per month are quite common in his position in Russia, the IT specialist reports on his income in his old homeland. With his now eight years of professional experience, he has worked his way up to senior software engineer. Skills that companies in Germany also appreciate: Ivanov has already found a job as a software engineer in his new home in Berlin. Instead of working in a large corporation with over 1000 employees, he now works in a small technology start-up.
Roman Ivanov is one of an estimated 170,000 IT professionals who have left Russia since the beginning of the war. According to an internal report quoted by “Bloomberg”, the Russian government fears that around 200,000 technology specialists will have left the country by 2025. However, the forecast did not take into account the developments since the partial mobilization. According to the newspaper “Nowaya Gazeta”, a further 260,000 Russians are said to have left the country in the past week alone.
Many would rather leave their homeland than fight in Ukraine. However, not everyone has the same opportunities to find work and start a new life abroad. It is no coincidence that technology specialists in particular are leaving the country, said the economist and dean of studies at the East European Institute at Freie Universität Berlin, Theocharis Grigoriadis, ntv.de. Russia’s education in this field enjoys a good international reputation. It is therefore easier for them to find a job on the international labor market than Russian specialists in other sectors.
A report from June on Deutsche Bank’s reaction to the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia also shows how popular the technology experts trained in Russia are. According to this, the bank brought “a mid three-digit number” of Russian programmers to Germany in June in order to set up a new technology center with them.
It should hurt the Kremlin particularly that the country’s tech elite is emigrating. The internal report cited by “Bloomberg” predicts a severe recession and major economic difficulties for Russia. Among other things, the loss of IT staff is responsible for this. However, the loss of labor is not the main problem, said Natalya Zubarevich, an expert on the economy of Russian regions at Moscow State University, “Bloomberg”. It is much worse for Russia that they take a lot of money out of the country. “The people who migrate tend to be more affluent and educated. You can’t flee with an empty wallet.”
The Russian government is therefore making every effort to keep the technology experts in the country. For example, IT specialists have been exempted from income tax until 2024. They should also be spared the partial mobilization. Because they belong to the “system-maintaining professions”, they must not be forcibly recruited. At least that’s what the Russian Ministry of Defense announced. In some cases these measures appear to be working. “A few of my colleagues support the government because they are doing well in Russia,” says Ivanov. “They have a great job, expensive cars and can afford to travel a lot.” Many of his old colleagues at Sberbank therefore stayed.
This could now be their undoing. Large state-owned companies, like Ivanov’s old employer, have started handing out draft notices, the Guardian reports. “Among our colleagues there are employees with combat experience who served in the armed forces,” Sberbank wrote. “Some of them have received their mobilization papers and orders.” Ivanov managed to avoid that. Unlike some of his colleagues, he didn’t think for a second about supporting the Kremlin. On the contrary: his home country’s invasion of Ukraine was particularly bad for him, because almost all of his relatives live in Ukraine.
However, his emigration to Germany also had hurdles. He was one of many Russians who wanted to start a new life in Germany. This was also shown by the great rush to the German embassy in Moscow. Ivanov found his job in Berlin in March, but then had to wait another three months for his visa. Once this test of patience had been mastered, however, everything happened very quickly: Like most academic specialists from non-EU countries, Ivanov received the so-called blue card in order to be allowed to work in the EU. For this he had to prove his degree, a job offer and a minimum salary of almost 44,000 euros. The big advantage: In order to get his residence permit, he did not have to prove any language skills.
Even if they meet these requirements, many Russians who wanted to emulate Ivanov and start a new life abroad may not make it. According to reports from the exile medium “Meduza”, the Russian government is planning to close the borders to potential recruits. Ivanov’s brother could also be affected by this. He stayed in Russia because of the common parents.
His family remaining in Russia would be a reason for Ivanov to return to his homeland one day. However, only under one condition: it would have to be a new Russia – with new laws and a new government.
