Land of Hope and Glory: Brit Explains Appeal of Moving to Russian Far East

On May 2 2016, President Vladimir Putin announced that he would offer free land to Russian and naturalized citizens; this may have come as a welcomed surprise to some.

The news of free land comes at a time when many foreigners are also contemplating moving to the Far East and looking at Russia as the perfect alternative to the UK.

In a recent survey, it emerged that up to 80 percent of those asked would be willing to move and live in Russia and other parts of the Russian Far East. The increased desire to move to Russia was sparked by Putin's offer of free land, for all those who are willing to work hard and also have the start-up capital to make the new venture work.

"We should work with regional authorities, so that land plots are allocated in areas with at least minimal infrastructure," Putin said at a recent meeting with Russia's Far East Development Minister Alexander Galushka.

These numbers show that the view of Russia is not a pessimistic one; in fact many people from Britain have a positive opinion of the country.

For some British nationals Russia has so many great opportunities and places to explore. Andrea Osborne from Norfolk, is a keen traveller of the Far East and has already started to mimic the Russian way of life in her Norfolk dwellings.

"Yes, we've got a small holding of two acres and a wooden house which is very much like a Russian dacha [country house], which is probably why I bought it. We do grow most of our own vegetables and we keep ducks and chickens. We are looking into goats as well for goats' milk… and pigs — they're the best thing for clearing the land," Andrea Osborne told Sputnik.

The prospect of moving to Russia is not a surprising one for Andrea and one she would welcome. 

"I've lived in Russia, I've lived in Moscow and I've visited Siberia a couple of times and I absolutely love the Eastern side," Osborne told Sputnik.

"I haven't been as far east as past [Lake] Baikal but I'd love to. What I'm interested in is the Khabarovksy Krai and Primorsky Krai which are the two regions furthest south on the eastern seaboard,"

However, there are many things to take into consideration before one embarks on a fully-fledged move, such as climate and whether conditions.

"It's a huge area — if you think of Siberia [which] goes from the Arctic right down to the Chinese border — and there's huge temperatures in that. If you are talking about the Magadan region, it's freezing… absolutely freezing. Whereas if you go down the eastern seaboard, where you've got Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, there the weather is much more temperate," Osborne said.

The scheme is a fruitful one and it has not gone unnoticed by foreign nationals who would be keen to experience a new way of life, but location is everything.

"The Primorsky Krai region, is very much highlands and forest, the average is about 500m above sea level. It all depends on the climate as well. The other areas of land on offer for free are Khabarovsk and Taiga and Tundra and swampy forests in the central area, so it would depend on what relocation was and the type of land and soil," Osborne said.

Russia is not the only country to offer land for free, this is an option in the US too, yet for other areas of the world the process is far more difficult. "I looked into this actually and I understand that in America, Alaska and three other states — Kansas is one — already do this. And I've seen something about Canada and perhaps Australia and New Zealand too.

"The problem is in Europe it won't happen as there isn't enough land and it's far too expensive," Osborne told Sputnik.