Putin giving away free land in the Far East?

[Siberia]

I lived in St. Petersburg for 3 months about 10 years ago and my impression was that it is still a difficult place to live and that I want to live somewhere else.

Well, life has significantly changed for the better in Russia during the last 10 years, axj. But I suspect that you still would want to live somewhere else. ;)

As Mr. Putin said lately: "When life was easy in Russia?" It still can be a difficult place to live. Easiness is kind of boring for Russians, we are crazy people, you know? :D

 

[Hindsight Man]

I have been also considering moving back to Russia (I was born in the USSR and moved away when I was a child). I lived in St. Petersburg for 3 months about 10 years ago and my impression was that it is still a difficult place to live and that I want to live somewhere else.

Among the biggest problems in my opinion are:
- the all-pervasive corruption
- lack of an effective police/judicial system
- quite a lot of criminal activity, though I am not sure how the rural areas compare to the big cities in this (which are probably not worse than other big cities around the world)

I am wondering how the forum members who live in Russia see these problems. Am I imagining these to be bigger than they really are?

Life in the Far East of Russia would be very different to city life (I grew up in Yekaterinburg), as there's no infrastructure for one.The population is very sparse and spread out and you mostly have to rely on yourself rather than governmental offices.That said,you gotta be able to defend yourself in case some bandits show up,so you really gotta be able to trust the people you choose to live with.Though I highly doubt that there's many bandits in the untamed wilderness of Siberia,but the nature itself may prove to be a far more formidable threat.

 

[Siberia]

Life in the Far East of Russia would be very different to city life (I grew up in Yekaterinburg), as there's no infrastructure for one.The population is very sparse and spread out and you mostly have to rely on yourself rather than governmental offices.That said,you gotta be able to defend yourself in case some bandits show up,so you really gotta be able to trust the people you choose to live with.Though I highly doubt that there's many bandits in the untamed wilderness of Siberia,but the nature itself may prove to be a far more formidable threat.

Exactly, Hindsight Man, fully agree with the above.

 

[Keit]

I am wondering how the forum members who live in Russia see these problems. Am I imagining these to be bigger than they really are?

Well, I agree with Siberia, and please don't take it the wrong way, but it's possible that you still would feel more comfortable living somewhere else. Not sure.

The thing is, that all the problems that you brought up

- the all-pervasive corruption
- lack of an effective police/judicial system
- quite a lot of criminal activity

don't even factor into the hardships of everyday life in Russia (and I presume that they are pretty much the same for most of the people of both Russia and Belarus). There are many small and rather subtle things that you would need to accept and get used to living with on an everyday basis.

Take the living without hot water for more than two weeks, for example, since that is exactly what happens right in many cities in Russia. Sure, you could say - cool, cold adaptation and all. But what about mothers with small babies, or the fact that you can't really wash properly an oily dish with only cold water? So you need to boil the water first. Not a big deal really, but still - a bit less comfortable than just opening the tap.

And this "a bit less comfortable" characterizes most of the things here. And, yeah, I also had to get used to it myself, especially to the idea that no one is particularly interested in solving my problems beside myself. It may seem cold, and Russians aren't really egotists, who will throw you under the bus, so to say. But they do follow the motto that one's fate is in one's hands, so everyone has to go an extra mile if they want something to be done for themselves or their family.

But since you are Russian, maybe you already know all of this. fwiw.

 

[Siberia]

The thing is, that all the problems that you brought up

- the all-pervasive corruption
- lack of an effective police/judicial system
- quite a lot of criminal activity

don't even factor into the hardships of everyday life in Russia (and I presume that they are pretty much the same for most of the people of both Russia and Belarus). There are many small and rather subtle things that you would need to accept and get used to living with on an everyday basis.

Yeah, absolutely Keit. I can't remember ever facing myself the problems listed above (doesn't mean one cannot face them here in Russia), but I do have to deal with lots of other small everyday struggles - just like anyone in this country - including, as you have mentioned, such things as no hot water for a couple of weeks every spring in Siberia, where it can be rather cold at this time of the year.

Russia is not as advanced and comfortable for living as some Western countries, we are just recovering after the devastating 90-s. So if some folks are expecting to find here a more comfortable place for living, that could be a bit of wishful thinking, imo.

As for the Russian wilderness, Laura has wisely mentioned earlier in this thread that life in the Far East and Siberia could be very close to what is described in the following book:

Maybe it's time for everyone to read the "Little House" series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder?

Yes, it's stunningly beautiful nature and vast uninhabited areas where you can feel perfectly free. But one should also keep in mind that when one is so free, it also implies that you will have to cope with all your problems yourselves and no social services will come to rescue, if you are lost somewhere in the wilds of Taiga.
So, if anyone is ready to cope with all difficulties yourselves then you are most here.

 

[Thaigrr]

Maybe with favorable "Earth Changes" parts of the Far East could become more temperate!?

 

[axj]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I am quite familiar with life in the USSR and later in Russia around 2005-7 - though I always lived in larger cities there.

My impression was that there are quite a lot of things that people take for granted in the West and that are still more or less of a problem in Russia.

The good thing about Russians is that you can find them pretty much everywhere too. ;)

 

[Redrock12]

Wish I was forty years younger, I would learn to speak Russian and emigrate in a heartbeat.
I think.

 

[Jeremy F Kreuz]

Does anybody has actual information on this Putin deal or where to find it - I live in Russia for the moment (but just started to learn Russian) and I would like to invest a bit more time and energy into finding out if this deal is something to look into.

 

[Hindsight Man]

There's other things you need to keep in mind like,do you have first aid training?Can you put a splint on a broken leg/arm?Do you know hot to treat a cut or an infection?Do you know what to do when you have a cold and there's no cold medicine available?Ain't no doctors in Taiga :P.Also if you're planning on moving there,you realize that you'll probably have to build a house yourself?Also you might wanna spend some time familiarizing yourself with local plants and wildlife,so you can make medicine out of one and hunt the other for skins/food. You'll have to spend a fair bit of time scouting the land,so you have to be in the physical condition to do so. It's a hell of a challenge,even though the adventure aspect might be totally worth it.Just keep in mind that learning the language will be the least of your trouble you might not even have to if your group is tight enough,but the other challenges might literally kill you.

 

[Siberia]

Does anybody has actual information on this Putin deal or where to find it - I live in Russia for the moment (but just started to learn Russian) and I would like to invest a bit more time and energy into finding out if this deal is something to look into.

Hi Jeremy,

Learning Russian is a big challenge for anyone, even for Russians: it's a very complex language (perhaps, one of the most complex in the world), so you are a super hero, no joking, I'm impressed! That takes courage and huge effort.

As for this particular offer by Mr. Putin, as far as I know, this program is intended for Russian citizens only, so if you wish to initiate such project you will either need a Russian citizenship or some Russian citizen as your partner maybe.

In short, what is suggested is one hectare of land for farming and/or hunting in the Russian Far East. The land is given to you on the terms of free lease (for a symbolic payment of 1 Ruble) for five years. If during those years you show that you really use this land, it than becomes your property.

Have you ever been in the Far East of Russia? Maybe you might wish to visit the place and see if you like it: the nature, the climate, the people et al. Here is a short article about Kolyma which is in the North of the Far East you might wish to read.

 

[piliangie]

Thanks Siberia for the link, it's a beautiful land..for sure....and impressive...

 

[timejack]

My mother used to take transsiberian train with her friend, camping stuff and large pontoon and do the few month trips down the some of baikal adjoining rivers. She fallen in love with this place and people and returned there quite many times, all that with 50 years+, me myself i've been living with russians quite part of my life and one is never bored with them, but yet, they have a big heart and contrary to western culture you can make friendships for life with them rather easy
From my mother tales, on the river, you would rather expect "bread and salt" welcome, she told me one russian followed them on his boat for many hours just because they passed his house without a chance of been invited. There are some fugitives and rich fauna too so one must be always aware of the surroundings (not that in city live we could forget)
And one must relay on itself there? of course, it is yet to see if western world will continue to have hot water and toilet forever, relaying on itself is what we pursue here i believe
Russian is hard, but communication level is possible and in the country of MANY cultures nobody will mind about you having strange accent
And dont forget bloodthirsty flies and army of mosquitoes, this is definitly ugliest part of this place
:)

 

[Siberia]

Following this interesting discussion, I thought that it might also be helpful for all of us to come up with a unified geographic terminology.

Speaking of Russia, people often nominally divide it in two parts: Europen Russia and Asian Russia. These two parts can also be called Western Russia and Eastern Russia.

The European/Western and Asian/Eastern parts are naturally divided by the Ural mountains, see the map below:

As you can see, the Eastern part is designated as "Siberia." This a very simple division which may cause confusion. When we are speaking of "Putin giving away free land in the Far East," it doesn't imply all that vast territory designated above.

Now what is actually Russian Far East? This map would be much closer:

As you can see, the Eastern Russia is further subdivided into Western Siberia (green), Eastern Siberia (blue) and the Far East (grey). So basically, the program is intended for the Far Eastern part of Russia.

Hope this helps clarifying the subject matter.

 

[Jeremy F Kreuz]

Siberia,

Learning Russian is a big challenge for anyone, even for Russians: it's a very complex language (perhaps, one of the most complex in the world), so you are a super hero, no joking, I'm impressed! That takes courage and huge effort.

thanks for the encouragement

As for this particular offer by Mr. Putin, as far as I know, this program is intended for Russian citizens only, so if you wish to initiate such project you will either need a Russian citizenship or some Russian citizen as your partner maybe.

that leaves me out on both counts - at least for the moment.

Have you ever been in the Far East of Russia? Maybe you might wish to visit the place and see if you like it: the nature, the climate, the people et al. Here is a short article about Kolyma which is in the North of the Far East you might wish to read.

I live in Moscow and for the moment have not been further east - in the article the region looks magnificent and very tempting - a good idea for the summer holidays.