General. The standard working week in Russia can be no more than 40 hours, 8 hours per day.
With up to about 17:40 hours, there are the longest days in June. The longest dark nights, on the other hand, are in winter. A December night in Moscow lasts almost 17 hours and the days start about 5 hours later. Who wants to look at the sunrise during these days, can take it easy.
Day Off – All employees are given days off (weekly continuous rest). With a five-day workweek, employees are given two days off per week, with a six-day workweek, one day off. A common day off is Sunday. Both days off are usually provided in a row.
The majority of office employees in Moscow worked the standard shifts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to a survey from 2019. Approximately one fifth of office workers had flexible working hours, with a possibility to start or finish work earlier or later depending on the workload.
Russia. In Russia, work-life balance is a major priority. According to OECD, only 0.2 percent of all employees work more than 50 hours per week. Fifty-eight percent of workers under the age of 24 feel they have achieved a satisfactory work-life balance, while all other age groups hover around 50 percent.
Expats in Russia will find the cost of living to be reasonable. In Mercer's Cost of Living survey for 2021, Moscow was ranked 62nd out of 209 cities, while St Petersburg was ranked 119th. Although Russia cannot be regarded as a cheap country to live in, as a whole, it is more affordable than many western countries.
Jawbone's data scientists crunched data from millions of Jawbone users in about 40 countries and found that people in Russia typically go to bed at 12:51 a.m. But just because Russians tend to go to bed later doesn't mean they get less sleep.
During working days, Russians usually have a one-hour lunch break (обе́денный переры́в) somewhere between 1 and 3 p.m. This is the time when lots of cafés and restaurants offer lunch specials (ко́мплексный обе́д or би́знес-ланч) where people can buy an inexpensive meal for less than US $10.
Belgium introduces a four-day workweek for employees who want it. In February, Belgian employees won the right to perform a full workweek in four days instead of the usual five without loss of salary. The bill came into force on November 21, allowing employees to decide whether to work four or five days a week.
Belgium. Belgium is the latest country to not only introduce a 4-day workweek, but also gives employees the right to ignore work-related messages and turn off work devices after work hours.
Iceland. Iceland tested four-day, 35-36-hour weeks from 2015-2019 with more than 2,500 employees, or roughly 1% of the country's total workforce. Participating employers included police departments, schools, and the Reykjavik mayor's office, and employees kept their same salary. The test was considered a huge success.
And Moscow's renown for being a truly 24-hour capital make it an ideal destination for those who revel in the special buzz of an all-night city, packed with nightclubs, bars and shopping centres, but only have a day or two to spare.
In St. Petersburg, the grand city of the czars, they call them the “White Nights”: those 80 or so evenings, running from May to the end of July, when the city emerges from long months of cold and darkness and celebrates the brief return of nearly round-the-clock daylight.
In Russian, you can use both the 12-hour and the 24-hour clock systems. The 12-hour system is common in everyday conversation, while the 24-hour system is used in formal settings, such as official documentation or news broadcasts.
Generally, Russian people have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In Russia, it doesn't take much time to cook breakfast or to eat it.
Russian national cuisine uses lots of grains and roots, vegetables, and everything else that vast lands, rich woods, and a plentiful of lakes and rivers have to offer. Staple Russian food features lots of fish, mushrooms, and berries.
Standard hours
9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, with 30-60 minute lunch break.
Women generally kiss people three times on alternating cheeks starting on the left. Male friends may hug one another or give each other a pat on the back. An old superstition advises that you should never greet someone by shaking hands or kissing them whilst on the threshold of the doorstep.
Russian dating practices are similar to those in English-speaking Western cultures. However, Russians generally approach dating with the prospect of a long-term relationship in mind. Marriage is the ultimate goal; thus, dates are less casual than what Australians are accustomed to.
Russians are a very demonstrative people, and public physical contact is common. Hugs, backslapping, kisses on the cheeks and other expansive gestures are common among friends or acquaintances and between members of the same sex. Russians stand close when talking.
The price of Combo meal in fast food restaurant (Big Mac Meal or similar) in Moscow is руб 381. This average is based on 39 price points. It can be considered reliable and accurate. Latest update: December 22, 2022.
Coffee: 65 - ₽ 150 ( US$ 2.20). Beer: ₽ 300 ( US$ 4.40). Small bottle of water: ₽ 100 ( US$ 1.50). Two course meal in a restaurant: ₽ 1,200 ( US$ 17.60).
Go for a four-pack of yogurt (about 25 rubles per cup), a loaf of bread (20 rubles), or bottled water (15 - 100 rubles).