As someone who has been to Montenegro and spoken with Russians living and running their businesses there, I want to share a story about this country—one that I can fully stand behind. The story is told from the perspective of a person who came not to lie on the beach or work as a laborer, but to live there and build their own business.
Before handing the floor to the author, let me add a few thoughts based on my personal impressions:
Montenegro is one of the few countries where a Russian person is seen not only as a “walking wallet” tourist (as is often the case here in Estonia), but also as a friend, comrade, and brother. Plus, there is visa-free entry. Perhaps only in Serbia do they treat our people as well—or even better—in Europe. But Serbia has no sea, and the standard of living is a bit lower, so today we’ll focus on Montenegro.
It’s no surprise that this country has one of the highest proportions of Russian tourists and permanent residents compared to other European countries. So if you, dear reader, are thinking about trading Estonia’s nasty climate for something more welcoming and comfortable, I recommend taking a good look at Montenegro.
And now, let’s hear from the author.
It so happened that I have been living and working in Montenegro for the past five months. I used to live in the Moscow region and worked as a lead engineer in a small but successful Russian company. Like many others, I sometimes dreamed of a better life. For me, a better life looked like a small house in the mountains, not far from the sea, in a place with good weather year-round, friendly people, clean environment, and a peaceful pace of life. The road to this dream seemed difficult—20 years of paying a mortgage for an apartment in Moscow, then another 10 years of saving for that house in the mountains. So when I had a chance to skip all that and try the dream right away, I didn’t hesitate.
Enough time has passed for me to get a feel for Montenegrin reality, but I still stay in touch with Russia and keep a fresh perspective. So I hope my observations are reasonably objective. Right away, I can say that living in Montenegro in small doses (a few months) can be a therapeutic experience for almost any resident of a Russian metropolis. From there, one of two things happens: either it starts to feel like you’ve fallen into a swamp, or—like Vladimir Vysotsky said—you gain a second homeland.
Internet in Montenegro
First of all, I came to Montenegro to launch a new internet service provider, aimed at offering tourists and new buildings wireless mobile internet via WiMAX technology. If I compare it with the author’s wishes, I’d say internet in Montenegro is as bad as in Thailand—no one offers 50 Mbps; the maximum is 30 Mbps, and that’s only in a few new buildings in the business capital, Podgorica. But if we’re being realistic, let’s remember: 10 years ago, such a connection in Russia was available only to entire cities; 5 years ago—to large companies; and today—only to people in high-rise apartments in major cities. In Montenegrin towns, you get ADSL with download speeds of 4–6 Mbps and upload up to 512 Kbps. In the suburbs, it’s 2000/512 via WiMAX, and in tourist zones, fast but rather expensive 3G. Still, you can live and work with that.
Climate in Montenegro
The climate in Montenegro is diverse and much more comfortable than in Russia. There is almost no snow in winter, but heavy rains do happen. Of course, snow does fall here—there are even ski resorts in the north—but it melts so quickly that there’s no need to bring sheepskin coats, skates, or ushanka hats. Winter feels like summer in St. Petersburg 😊 In the summer, the capital gets very hot. From my first day in June, it was 32°C, and the temperature stayed between 30–40°C until mid-September. Air conditioners help during the day, but it can still be uncomfortable at night. One important thing: just 10 km outside the capital, in the valley by Lake Skadar, evening temperatures drop to a comfortable 27°C. In the mountains or by the sea, temperatures rarely go above 29°C, making the seaside feel like paradise. The locals are well adapted to this climate—during July and August, the capital becomes deserted. Many institutions give most of their staff 30–40 days of vacation. Personally, two months of seaside heat are more enjoyable to me than six months of frost and black snow around the Moscow Ring Road.
Offices and Apartments in Montenegro
For work, office quality is more important than climate. And with offices, everything is great—construction and design are done by European companies. New houses and office buildings are constantly being built in the capital. Starting rent for an office is €300, and apartments go from €200. If you rent out a typical Moscow apartment, say, in Kapotnya, you can easily cover the cost of both an office and an apartment here—and still have enough left for daily coffee.
On the coast, the seasonal factor is strong. In winter, most homes are empty; in summer, they become very expensive to make up for off-season losses. Still, if you agree to a yearly rental, you can get a pretty good deal.
These offices on the first line of the new prestigious district will cost you 100 euros per square meter per year.
Work in Montenegro
The average salary in Montenegro is 500 euros. If you put away your Moscow arrogance (which you’ll have to do to fit into the local society), you can earn this amount in almost any profession. Given the constant growth of the Russian diaspora, teachers, radio and TV workers, marketing specialists, translators, and tourism managers will be in demand. There is absolutely no chance of finding a job as a driver, salesperson, banker, or accountant. The locals successfully work in numerous government institutions — this is a common issue in all southern European countries. Therefore, it’s much easier in Montenegro than in Thailand to find something to do for your spouse — after all, during the tourist season, there are always temporary job openings.
At the same time, you must understand that Montenegro is a great country for comfortably spending money and a hard one for earning it, except through business. And this last point is probably the most important. If you can find buyers for your product among foreign companies or tourists, the process of starting and running a business requires much less effort than in Russia. Some companies open offices in Montenegro. All difficulties and risks are reduced to spending small sums of money. However, remember that this is not an offshore zone, but a European country with bureaucracy and high taxes.
Visas
Compared to Thailand, the visa situation is much better. As there, stays of up to 30 days require no effort, except for a registration card (which nobody really checks and is just a way to get a little money from tourists). For automatic extension, you need to leave the country — for example, to Albania, whose border is just 15 km away by car. The process is so routine that the only thing to remember is to ask the border officer to put the right stamp — otherwise, he might be too lazy to do it. From the west, it’s easier to exit into Croatia.
At the Moscow embassy, you can get a 90-day business visa. And finally, in Podgorica, you can apply for a temporary boravak — a one-year work visa. The process is rather confusing but solvable. If you liked playing quests or MMORPGs, you might even enjoy it, imagining that it’s all happening in Elvish (or Goblin) language. There are three stages, each with about five documents needed to get the main document that takes you to the next stage. Some papers expire after a certain time, sending you back to the beginning. I tried to complete the procedure with the help of local Montenegrins’ advice and failed every time. In the end, I gave up, hired a translator, and did everything myself in three days. A visa for your family and children is almost automatic if you have your visa, but the full set of documents must be duplicated. That’s about five euros per document. The total cost of the visa is around 100 euros per person, of which 50 goes to medical insurance.
The main problem in getting a work visa is obtaining an invitation from a company. If you open your own company, you cannot become its director without a work visa. This way, the government creates jobs for its lazy citizens.
Socialization and Integration
This is perhaps the most interesting and important point. A unique feature of Montenegro is that attracting Russian residents is a part of official state policy. After the wars caused by the breakup of Yugoslavia, Montenegro ended up squeezed between Croatia (historically hostile Catholic Croats) and Albania (with a Muslim population). The saddest war facts are about the conflict between Serbs and Croats — essentially one nationality with a common language but divided by religion for centuries. Muslims are historically more tolerant of other religions but have higher birth rates, so their dense settlements can lead to demographic shifts and issues like Kosovo’s independence. Nevertheless, the national issue in Montenegro is now closed, while in Russia, unfortunately, it’s just opening.
By attracting Russian capital and people, Montenegro protects its future.
Russians in Montenegro feel supported on household, governmental, and business levels. This is all based on deep cultural, historical, and linguistic connections. All of this is flavored with European friendliness and real Montenegrin hospitality.
Oh, the language! That’s a whole story on its own. Without much effort, after 3 months you begin to understand everyday speech. In a year, you can express yourself, and after 5 years, language problems disappear. Many Slavic words in the Serbian-Montenegrin language have been preserved better than in Russian. For example, the word “vrata” means “door.” “Otvorilis vrata” — “The door opened.” Reminds you of a fairy tale, doesn’t it? Another example is the more precise use of words.
“Sunday” in Serbian is “nedelja.” So how do they say “week”? That’s “sedmica.” Logical!
“Fifty” sounds the same in both languages, but “četredeset” (forty) and “devetdeset” (ninety) may sound strange at first. But in fact, the Russian “devyanosto” makes even less sense.
And there are funny moments too. “Arbuz” (watermelon) in Serbian is “dinja” (melon). And “straight” is “pravo.” Order a vegetable salad and be ready to receive fruit — because in Serbian, fruit is “voće.”
Personally, I find true pleasure listening to the speech of simple Montenegrins who don’t know English or Russian. In this language, even for words that are the same as in Russian, the stress is on the first syllable. Once you get the rhythm of the language, about a quarter of the words become clear. The meaning of others may come days later when your brain finds old linguistic patterns.
When leaving a shop, cafe, or office, Montenegrins say to each other the word “prijatno.” I’m not sure how to translate it exactly into Russian, but it’s very pleasant to hear.
Customs, Law, and Police
The main feature of Montenegrin society is its small size. The largest city is basically just a big village where everyone knows everyone. Laws are copied from EU directives; no one reads or knows them — especially local lawyers. In everyday life, everything is decided by personal relationships, not efficiency. A supplier may be genuinely offended if you start buying cheaper and better goods from someone else. What we call corruption, they call friendliness. Competitors meet in cafes and discuss information that in Russia would be considered top secret. There’s very little police presence, and crime is almost nonexistent — it makes no sense to ruin your own village. These principles apply even to criminal elements: you can scam outsiders, but never harm your own peaceful locals. As a result, for example, Montenegro is a transit point for drug trafficking, but inside the country, drug use is very rare.
Local joke: Every country has its mafia, but only in Montenegro does the mafia have its own country.
It seems that Montenegro’s independence exists mainly because its leaders wanted to be less dependent on European justice. Interestingly, the people are fine with this. Police, like in Russia, mind their own business — it’s useless to ask them for help. But in turn, they don’t bother ordinary citizens or pose a threat.
I was told there’s a 30-euro fine for driving without headlights, but I didn’t know that using fog lights also brings the same fine. Once, a police officer stopped me and kindly gestured that fog lights aren’t allowed. Needless to say, I sincerely said “prijatno” when parting.
Cars
Dealing with cars is fairly simple. With a one-year temporary residence permit, you can buy any car and get temporary plates. While renewing your residence permit, your car number becomes invalid for about a month. When selling the car to a local, they will be charged a 5% tax. Regardless of the purchase price, you won’t sell a car for more than 5,000 euros — that’s the population’s buying power. New car prices are slightly below Moscow levels. It makes sense to buy a used compact car — yes, that same Logan or Sandero that an IT guy in Moscow would be ashamed to drive. Here it’s called Dacia.
Children’s Happiness
Montenegro is wonderful for small children. Local families usually have three kids. There are few street playgrounds, but many indoor playrooms. This makes sense — it’s too sunny in summer, too rainy in winter, and playrooms are always comfortable, though paid. In the capital’s theater, children’s performances happen every week. Kids are loved and cared for everywhere — even in banks, there’s always candy for them. Small children play alone on the streets near their homes…
