I’m not sure whether current residents of Moscow will confirm that this is as true as it was. The Times’ man in Moscow details the expense of living there:

It was a rude introduction to what has been confirmed today in a study by Mercer Human Resource Consulting – that Moscow is now the costliest place in the world for expatriates to live, beating even London into second place.

Nine months later, I have become inured to the absurdity of paying 200 rubles for a cappucino, consoling myself that £4 isn’t so outrageous for a good cup of coffee. And it’s a bargain compared to that £6 slice of cheesecake I just ordered to go with it.

It could be gob smackingly expensive to live something like a western lifestyle. But:

Well, yes and no. Clearly, expats lack the networks of family, friends and local knowledge that helps Muscovites to live much more cheaply than foreigners. But much of the expense of living in Moscow is driven by soaring property prices, which gets passed on to everybody through higher costs for goods and services.

That local knowledge though could bring it right back down again. Once you’d got through the rent barrier (and one excellent part of the reform process was that residential property was handed over, for a minor ($100 or so) registration fee to the inhabitants, so this isn’t really a problem for Muscovites) living was very cheap.

The Mercer survey highlighted the cost of international newspapers as one element of expensive expat life. At £14 an issue in my local store, I was certainly persuded that Vanity Fair was a luxury I should live without.

Tsk, that’s simply monopoly that is. One of our businesses out there was importing the newspapers. Hachette had the official monopoly but we found away around that and gave them a good run for their money for 5 years or so. Sold the business on but it closed in 2001/2002 as the internet made the idea a little silly really. So Hachette now has a pure monopoly over the print versions: that’s why they’re expensive.