Russia woos foreign techies after exodus

Moscow announced Wednesday it was making it easier for foreign IT specialists to receive Russian work permits after an exodus of employees from the sector stemming from the Ukraine conflict.

Tens of thousands of Russians have fled the country since the Kremlin deployed troops to Ukraine last February, with a wave of young men leaving after Moscow introduced mobilisation in September 2022.

“For foreign citizens who are specialists in the field of information technology, the process of being employed and obtaining a residence permit in the Russian Federation has been simplified,” an interior ministry spokeswoman said.

The announcement comes several months after a Russian official acknowledged that as many as 100,000 employees of Russia’s IT sector had left the country last year.

The official, Russia’s digital development minister Maksut Shadayev, noted that about 80 percent of those who left were still working remotely for Russian companies.

The conflict in Ukraine has spurred a wave of sanctions on the Russian economy, isolating its IT sector at the same time as Russian tech giants have been wrested under government control.

According to the simplified procedures unveiled Wednesday by interior ministry representative Irina Volk, the applications for foreign workers in the IT sector will be considered within three months.

The length of the permit will be indefinite and will also allow the accredited IT sector worker to also relocate immediate family members to Russia.

Many Russians who left following the sharp escalation in fighting in Ukraine last year have relocated to neighbouring ex-Soviet countries, such as Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan.