**TRICKS OF THE TRADE:**

# TIPS FOR OPENINGAN OFFICE IN SAMARA

 

## By Ekaterina Solovova & Dimitry Melnikov

 

Foreign companies and some large Russiancorporations are increasingly moving or expanding their activities away fromMoscow into the Russian regions. The regions attract companies by their greatcommercial potential and, at the same time, lower costs of doing business.Recently, several small- and medium-sized companies, both Russian and foreign,have emerged in Samara, a city of 1.2 million people that is located some 600miles southeast of Moscow on the Volga River. As a result, the demand for high‑leveloffice services has increased. The existing supply sometimes cannot satisfy theneeds of every customer. However, office services are rapidly developing inSamara. 

 

OfficeRental

In spite of its vast commercial and businessactivities, the city of Samara lacks first-class office space. Nevertheless,there are several ways to find suitable office space. 

 

First, one can lease space in variousbusiness centers, which in Samara sometimes combine the functions of tradecenters. Stores are located on the lower floors, and available office space issituated on the upper floors. Business centers usually offer well-decorated andconvenient suites with telephone lines, security, cleaning, and sometimes aparking space. Furniture, air-conditioning, garage, and additional security areavailable for an extra fee. The monthly rent in business centers is $7‑20 persquare meter.

 

Another option for finding an office space isto contact a real estate agency. Such agencies will locate office space for asmall fee (usually not more than 20‑60 percent of a single monthly rentpayment). These agencies often offer office space in former state enterprisebuildings. Telephone lines and security are also available there. The maindrawback of this option is that upkeep of the office might not be up to Westernmaintenance standards. Rent in these buildings usually does not exceed $6 persq. meter monthly and depends on the distance from the city center. Due to ashortage of office space in Samara, some foreign companies rent apartments andconvert them into offices. 

 

LaborMarket

There are 11 higher education institutionslocated in Samara. Traditionally, Samara is famous for its technicalspecialists because of the high concentration of defense industry facilitiesthat used to develop and apply high technologies. At the same time, businessand management courses  arerelatively new for Samara universities. Thus, it is easy to find highlyqualified technicians, but hard to find people with Western-type managementskills. It is especially difficult for companies to find an English‑speakingaccountant, for example. Most of the bilingual work force graduated from thePhilological and Foreign Languages Departments of local universities. Usually,they need to be trained to fulfill the required work. One of the informal waysto find office staff is to contact U.S. companies operating in Samara, whichmight have resumes of previous applicants available. Another way is toadvertise in the local newspapers or contact employment agencies. Employmentagencies usually charge a percentage of the annual salary of each position. 

 

Telecommunications

All types of telecommunication services areavailable in the Samara region. Installation of an additional telephone linecosts $80‑400. The fee depends on waiting time and service quality. The mainlocal phone companies are **Samara-SvyazInform**,**SamaraTelecom**, **TeleRoss**, and **GlobalOne**.     

Three major cellular phone operators work inSamara: **Mobitel**(using GSM‑900standard), **BeeLine**(AMPS/DAMPS), and**Samarskiy Radio Telephone** (NMT‑450).The connection costs $100 on average, and the per minute rate ranges from $0.14to $0.30. Monthly payments are usually under $5. Cellular phones are expensivein Samara, but it is important to note that many cellular telephone companiescharge lower fees to customers that buy telephones from them.

 

Of the 10 Internet service providers inSamara, the main companies are: **Kraft‑S**(www.kraft‑s.ru), **Samara Internet**(www.samara.net), and **Samara Infonet**(www.saminfo.ru). Most Internet service providers do not charge for connectingcustomers or a monthly fee. A per minute payment scheme is possible, as isunlimited access. The cost of a one-minute call does not exceed $0.02, andunlimited access costs about $50 a month. Reserved lines are also available. 

 

BusinessServices

Several companies design and print varioustypes of business cards, leaflets, seals, etc. Printing of 200 tricolorbusiness cards costs about $165. The cost to produce 1,000 leaflets is around$300. Prices for advertising in the local press in Samara are much lower thanin Moscow.  

 

Some information in this report was provided by the CARANACorporation, which is funded by USAID.

 

*A list of useful contacts and additional information on Samara can befound at **BISNIS Online** atwww.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/regions.html#VolgaUrals.*

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*Ekaterina Solovova is the **BISNIS**representative in Samara.*