The history of entrepreneurship in russia has undergone a significant shift since the collapse of the soviet union with many stateowned enterprises being privatized and a new generation of entrepreneurs emerging the country has a large pool of talented engineers and scientists which has helped to drive technological innovation in a range of industries the geography of the area is diverse with moscow and st petersburg being the largest and most prominent startup hubs however there are also a growing number of startups emerging in other regions of the country including kazan novosibirsk and ekaterinburg the technological innovations of the area are also diverse with a particular focus on it biotech and ecommerce some of the most successful startups in russia include yandex which is the countrys largest search engine kaspersky lab which is a leading cybersecurity company and ozon which is often referred to as the russian amazon the government of russia has launched a number of initiatives to support the startup ecosystem including the skolkovo innovation center which is a governmentfunded technology park that provides resources and support for hightech startups the living wage in russia is around 11000 rubles per month which is equivalent to around 150 the unemployment rate in the country is currently around 5 which is relatively low compared to other countries in the region the countrys gdp is estimated at around 16 trillion
