Annual Report 2013

: T A I R S PO S RU L RE A 13 U N 20 N A

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ing s u Ho w ws sco e o N M ia n s o i s t u R igra n i m d Im orl W t’s a p Ex s w e N Our

Message from Moscow Expatriate

by Carole Lawlor - Friend of Intermark

Having lived in Moscow for almost 5 years, the only constant in this big city has been the weather and the traffic. Moscow is a rapidly changing, and the speed of the development is unbelievable. The most recent advancements that come to mind are the bus lanes and the meters for car parking in the city center. Some of the changes are subtle and some much more obvious.

Credit cards are now more widely accepted, and now both Metro Cash & Carry and Auchan take credit cards. This has made life easier as ensuring that you have enough cash to pay in a large grocery shop is no longer a concern.

There are more web sites with a choice of English and this is a welcome improvement for booking theatre “People in gentickets etc. It is easier to order eral seem to smile your groceries online or to more and seem happier order almost anything for that and I believe foreigners matter and delivery is quick blend in more than in the and efficient in most cases.

Another personal observation in the past few years is the number of foreign drivers on the roads of Moscow. Four years ago this was not as past and help make this common especially amongst vibrant city even more There is a vast array of restauexpat women, however now it is rants and cafes in Moscow and a much more familiar sight. The cosmopolitan.� they are increasing all the time. number and variety of internationNow there are lots of lovely warm al stores has also increased. The American style cafes with wonderful selection includes Massimo Dutti, Amerfresh food and delicious coffee choices. The ican Eagle, GAP, Banana Republic and the French chain of Cafes Paul has now arrived in recently opened large British Chain DebenMoscow and the quality is excellent in generhams to name but a few. More familiar al. You can hardly pass a main street or a large grocery brands are also now readily available shopping mall without finding a Starbucks in Moscow including Mince Pies at Christmas and again the quality is great. for the first time.

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www.intermarkrelocation.ru

Marina Semenova Client Services Director, Shareholder Relocation & Immigration Services

Irina Yakimenko Director, Shareholder Relocation & Immigration Services

Dear Partners, 2013 has been a very fruitful and exciting year for Intermark Relocation! We appreciate and are grateful and honored to be instructed with such an important and interesting task as relocating senior foreign employees along with their families and children to Russia.

Key figures Intermark Relocation team achieved in 2013:

673 families

845 children

1352 lease agreements were renewed

750 immigration files were successfully

were relocated and found new home in Russia in 2013

3 new cities

in Russia are now covered

by Intermark

were placed in international schools in Moscow

completed

2 new countries

(Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan) are now covered by Intermark

www.intermarkrelocation.ru

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Expat Housing Review 2013 – MAIN TENDENCIES AND RESULTS • Demand for high-end rental properties has remained at the same level as in 2012 • After several years of decrease supply has demonstrated 27 % growth • Average asking prices have increased by 8 % • Important changes in tenant profile – more international assignees and more families • Changes in tenant profile lead to more demand for larger properties • Average housing budgets increased by 19 % • Same Top 3 most popular areas:

Arbat (downtown) Leningradsky prospect (area of international schools) Tverskaya (downtown)

FORECAST FOR 2014 AND RECOMMENDATIONS • The market will be greatly influenced by the current devaluation of Russian local currency (ruble) - Landlords are likely to start calculating rent in euros or dollars.

In theory this should lead to decrease of dollar prices. In reality in most cases when re-calculating the ruble amount in dollars/euros landlords wlll base their calculations on the most favourable exchange rate for them - If company allowances are set in rubles this may have to be significantly reviewed so they could correlate to their value in 2013

• The change of tenant profile in 2013 – prevailing families vs singles – has affected the availability of larger properties. 2014 will witness price increase for this type of housing and shortage of availability. Typical example: housing compounds that increased their prices and have waiting lists even before the school year starts

Dynamics of supply – 2009-2013 (100%-2009) 120% 110% 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30%

I II III IV V VI VIIVIII IX X XI XII I II III IV V VI VIIVIII IX X XI XII I II III IV V VI VIIVIII IX X XI XII I II III IV V VI VIIVIII IX X XI XII I II III IV V VI VIIVIII IX X XI XII

2009

$ 8 500

2011

2010

2012

Rental prices The asking prices in 2013 have been quite stable with an annual increase of 8% compared to 2012

$ 8 000 $ 7 500

Dynamics of asking prices 2011-2013

$ 7 000 $ 6 500 $ 6 000

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II III IV V VI VIIVIII IX X XI XII

2011

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2013

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III IV V VI VIIVIII IX X XI XII I

2012

II III IV V VI VIIVIII IX X XI XII

2013

Immigration Overview The Immigration Laws and Policies in Russia were significantly amended in 2013

2013 General Immigration Tendency in Russia: Control measures on compliance with immigration legislation have become tougher and the new sanctions in respect of employers’ and foreign citizens’ violation of immigration legislation have been introduced.

What Has Changed?

What May Change in 2014?

1. Increased & Stricter Violation Consequences

•The existing mechanism of foreign labor needs assessment and the system of quotas will be significantly reconsidered in favor of highly-skilled workers. The quotas are likely to be suspended for some employment categories, e.g. investors/entrepreneurs, foreign students, occupants in scientific research;

•Failure to notify relevant officials (as per the stipulated order) of termination of an employment contract or provision of unpaid leave to a foreign citizen for more than 1 calendar month per year the year will now result in an administrative fine of up to 800000 RUR ($25000) or an administrative suspension of all corporate activities for a period up to 90 days; •Failure to provide relevant notifications by an employer engaging highly qualified specialists will result in an administrative fine of up to 1 million RUR ($32000); •Foreign nationals can now be refused entry to Russia or be prohibited from renewing a current visa from within Russia if they commit two or more administrative violations within a three-year period.

Administrative violations include speeding tickets, automotive moving violations, failing to timely register one’s residential address, etc;

•Electronic submission of Work/Residence permit

applications support documents to FMS (in scanned version) on a stage of their consideration; •The institute of Temporary Resi-

dence Permit (TRP) will be modernized: TRP will prove the right of a foreign citizen to stay in Russia for a period of 1-5 years (depending on the purposes of residency), taking advantage of free entry-exit to/from the Russian Federation and labor engagement without work permit;

•It is anticipated that Perma-

nent Work Permit could be obtained by passing the residency under temporary residence permit.

•Violation of the residency regime (absence/loss/non-application in respect to the loss of the right residency documents) and violation of exiting procedure on expiration of residency period in results in an administrative fine up to 5000 RUR ($150) together with an administrative deportation outside the Russian Federation.

Intermark Immigration Team Highlights:

2. Change in HQS Procedure

•The team has doubled in size

•All regional FMS branches in the Russian Feder-

ation are now authorized to receive and consider applications for work permits for highly qualified specialists as well as to extend the validity term of temporary stay in Russia (Previously, this was handled via Moscow UFMS);

•This switch to regional FMS branches may com-

plicate and delay the processes due to imperfect and very location specific way of how regional offices operate.

•Number of immigration queries successfully com-

pleted multiplies by 2.5 vs. 2012

•The scope of our services has increased to include non-standard sophisticated cases. An example of most recent interesting case is the complete support for Italian family to adopt a Russian boy.

We are happy and honored to have helped a family grow!

For any immigration question, advice or query contact us: immigrations@intermark.ru www.intermarkrelocation.ru

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Intermark Relocation News

Kaliningrad

Belarus

Saint-Petersburg

Kaluga

Moscow Ryazan Kirov Nizhny Novgorod

Russia

Voronezh

Kazan Izhevsk Rostov-on-Don Elabuga Naberezhnye Chelny Tyumen Samara Krasnodar Volgograd Yekaterinburg Ufa Novorossiysk Chelyabinsk

Sochi

Omsk

Sakhalin Tomsk

Astana

Kazakhstan

Novosibirsk

Krasnoyarsk Khabarovsk

Novokuznetsk

Almaty

Azerbaijan

Vladivostok

(launch in 2014)

Our Locations 29 locations in Russia 3 CIS countries

Need another location?

Let us know! relo@intermarkrelocation.ru 5

www.intermarkrelocation.ru

Moscow Relocation Guide: 2013/4 This amazing and indispensible source of information for anyone who thinks ‘Moscow’ is a collection of Intermark 21 years of experience, knowledge and lots of expat feedback and insight!

New edition of ‘2013 has 50 new pages featuring: Detailed Areas & Infrastructure reviews; “Weekend in Moscow” suggestions; “Taste of Russia”: intro to typically Russian cuisine! It’s a must try!

“Things to do with children” in Moscow; And more!

Interested in getting one?

Contact our marketing team for details marketing@intermark.ru (*From each copy sold Intermark donates to the Russian Charity foundation for children).

Intermark Relocation exhibits at Relocation Events: Intermark Relocation presented its team & exhibition booth at EuRA convention in Bucharest.

Besides sharing interesting information, materials and news, we have prepared an intersrting excersie for booth attendees: “Share You First Thought of Russia”. We got some usual ones like “Vodka”, “Snow”, “cold”, and some fun ones.

Ushanka

Red Square

Blins

What’s Next?

Feb’14: See our booth at Oil&Gas Forum, Vienna Apr’14: Meet us at EuRA-2014 at Edinburg Oct’14: Come & see our first-time booth at ERC. Intermark Relocation will be the first local CIS to set up an individual booth! www.intermarkrelocation.ru

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New Services Intermark Relocation Academy presents: HR & Relocation RUSSIA Training

The training consists of several workshops held both on site of Intermark offices along with online sessions via webinar for long-distance customers & clients. Here are just a few most popular subjects covered:

Moscow Metro Training

Metro is the heart of Moscow public transport.

Newly arrived expats are typically very doubtful and fearful of using one, rather wasting their time in traffic. At the same time it is the easiest and most reliable way to get around Moscow. You just need a hand to kick off.

Intermark Metro training is perfect way to start!

Assignees with their families learn: History and interesting facts about Metro

Moscow & Russia: basics to relocation & immigaration to this part of the world

How to buy and use tickets

Moscow Housing Market: what to expect & how to plan

How to identify the exit to the city & more

Immigration: changes, tendencies & tips Legal aspects of relocation: compliance is what matters!

How to choose the direction & make a change

Cultural Training

Interested in attending any of the sessions? Would you like to attend an on-line session?

Contact our team for schedule set-up!

Missing an interesting subject?

Let us know and we will make it specially for you!

Russian Language Training

Russia without Russian language is just so much worse! With all signs being written like that “ПРИВЕТ”, finding your ways becomes a torture!

Initially incomprehensible, it doesn’t take very long to learn the basics of Russian alphabet, and then things become so much easier. Also this is extremely important for a fruitful cooperation: russian colleagues will appreciate it!

To start learning Russian contact us for help at: LearningRussian@intermark.ru

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www.intermarkrelocation.ru

Most expats' first impression is that Russians are unfriendly, especially the older generation. This is a result of Soviet culture, so if someone does not smile, don’t take it personally. The younger generation is much friendlier and in many cases young people speak English. This is just one of those things we teach at Intermark Cultural Awareness Training Session.

It also covers: Historical and religious background for mentality and behavior Some rules of behavior: shaking hands, hugs, three kisses, etc.

Russian holidays & hospitality, food and drinks.

Interested in any of the listed services? Contact us for additional infromation rh@intermark.ru

New Мaterials Moscow Metro Pocket-Book

Weekend in Moscow

Grocery Shopping Dictionary

At first sight using the Metro can be a frightening and difficult experience.

In fact, it is the easiest and most reliable way to get around Moscow, taking into account today’s traffic. To help you to take full advantage of the Metro, we have created a special Moscow Metro Pocket-Book.

Inside you will find: • Metro map (eng/ru) • Types of tickets • Useful tips • The most popular public places

There are many different current events, exhibitions, concerts and theatre shows in Moscow taking place all the time and we want to give expats the opportunity to experience some of these wonderful events and help them enrich their time in Moscow. You can find Weekly updates on our Facebook page or in the digital library.

We know how difficult it can be to get acquainted with a new city, especially when everything is written in a foreign language and by Cyrillic alphabet.

With this in mind, we have created «Grocery Shopping Dictionary», which will make newcomers’ life in Moscow easier and turn shopping into an enjoyable experience.

You can find the digital library with all main materials here: www.issuu.com/IntermarkRelocation

Social Responsibility In our opinion modern business has to be social responsible. During the year we supported different social activities. If you want to donate your time and skills too or discuss partnership, please contact us via relo@intermarkrelocation.ru Since 2008 year our company has been a Silver Sponsor of the ARC Charity Ball. Action for Russia’s Children (ARC) emerged as an organization in the mid 1990's. Since then it has worked with a number of leading Russian charities who have introduced and implemented breakthrough solutions in childcare and rehabilitation.

Since 2008 year our company has been a Silver Sponsor of the ARC Charity Ball. Action for Russia’s Children (ARC) emerged as an organization in the mid 1990's. Since then it has worked with a number of leading Russian charities who have introduced and implemented breakthrough solutions in childcare and rehabilitation.

On 14th of November, 2013 we took part in the event organized by the American Women's Organization – The Arts & Crafts Festival. Special Intermark baskets were donated for the charity auction.

In cooperation with AWO (American Women Organization) we support the charitable foundation "Nastenka". 1/3 of income earned from the sale of our printed materials is sent to the charity fund.

Business must be socially responsible

Our company continues to maintain eco-friendly policy. We use a special printer, which helps to print on the both sides of the paper. All documents for internal using print only on drafts or already used papers.

1/3 of all POSM materials are printed on eco-friendly paper, meaning near 304,000 sheets per year.

Also there is a simple rule in our company: all our staff using their own cups for drinks. Thanks to this simple rule we saved 6300 plastic disposable cups per month or 75600 per year or 226 kg of plastic.

Intermark staff is very inspired by the changes and now we continue to work together to reducing negative impact on environment. www.intermarkrelocation.ru

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Intermark Team Trainings for employees

Quality Control

Walking Excursions Around the City

If you work in the relocation company, you have to learn a lot of specific information. To ensure that our new employees become worthy members of the team as quickly as possible, we provide a wide variety of training courses.

Newcomers are learning detailed information about the all steps of relocation process and own responsibility in it.

To control the quality of provided services we introduced the system of online questionnaires. It helps clients to share their experience in easy way and for us it’s an opportunity to follow all feedbacks and constantly keep the quality. In addition you can always share your experience at qualitycontrol@intermarkrelocation.ru.

We’ve started a new project called "My own Moscow". Every member of our team can become a tour guide and show their favorite places in the city.

Our Team

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www.intermarkrelocation.ru

To discover the secrets of Moscow, just join our regular free excursions.

INTERMARK IN MEDIA

Media is a great tool to share experiences with colleagues around the world, and to inform customers and partners about the changes in the industry. Our experts are always ready to share their views with journalists and provide the audience with useful information.

The Largest Russian Information Agency

Expats' best friends

Magazine for HR, Global Managers & Relocation Professionals

Oil and Gas clients in Russia

“Consultants are “Expats' best friends”. They are taking full responsibility for the relocation of employee.

Company employs staff not only with perfect knowledge of English language, but also with a certain foreign "backgrounds", which means understanding the ways how foreigners live. But most importantly, they must be willing to help their customers in any situation.”

Supporting assignees in Russia’s Oil & Gas sector.

Russian friendship features “As recognized in the Company, foreigners feel comfortable in Moscow. At first, they wonder, looking at the beautiful pictures in the booklets, and came to Moscow, recognize that is really all it is. There are good restaurants, shops, medical centers, and a decent standard of accommodation. In Moscow they lead a very active lifestyle, much more active than at home. Russian culture is a coconut, that is difficult to get in, but if you able, you will get great pleasure. Therefore, the Russians are the best for friendship.” www.inmsk.ru 10 December 2013

Irina Yakimenko and Marina Semenova of Moscow based Intermark Relocation, consider how overseas companies can best support assignees working in Russia’s Oil & Gas sector. Being set in Moscow and 30 other locations in Russia, we at Intermark Relocation look at the foreign investment climate from the inside.

We see oil and gas exploration and joint venture projects underway, oil companies relocating record numbers of its foreign population into Russia for various assignments; therefore it is clear that international oil companies have overcome the fears followed BP-TNK crisis.

One particular service in which oil & gas majors are interested more than any other company is cultural training. The reason for that is that most international oil and gas majors form joint ventures with Russian oil companies, and the expatriates working there are exposed to Soviet style business culture. That often makes communication and decision making process very complicated, and knowing what to expect is often the key to success. www.issuu.com Autumn 2013

Leading Russian Business Newspaper

Negotiating Moscow’s expat housing market

“Rents in the luxury segment starts at about $ 4 thousand and almost indefinitely - the price is formed mainly from the location, design quality and expectations of the owner. According to the company Intermark Relocation, on summer 2013 the main demand was for apartments with a rental rate of $ 6.9 thousand.”

“The Moscow rentals market is complex and presents a number of challenges for international assignees and their managers. Irina Yakimenko and Marina Semenova share some useful tips for assignees seeking accommodation. «…Of course, there will always be difficulties for expats to negotiate. In this regard, the role of relocation companies is becoming more important.»”

www.kommersant.ru 26 September 2013

www.relocatemagazine.com 20 September 2013

7/1 Kropotkinsky Lane Moscow, Russia, 119034 +7 495 502 95 53 www.intermarkrelocation.ru Š Intermark Group, Inc. 2014