For tech hub in Russia’s rustbelt, recession’s a godsend
VORONEZH, Russia — Russia’s economy is in a quagmire thanks to sanctions and low oil prices, but it’s a boom time for Mikhail Khorpyakov.
The 32-year-old, who develops software for Russian and foreign clients, has seen his earnings rise over the last two years even as the country fell into recession and the national currency lost half its value.
At the airy, well-lit office he shares with friends in a newly built block in the thriving provincial tech hub of Voronezh, Khorpyakov recalls his last workspace was “in a basement, with noisy sewer pipes all around,” before their earning power allowed them to aim higher.