Many emigrants need remote services in their homeland
As Gazeta.ru writes, in recent months various remote services tailored specifically for emigrants have been gaining popularity: from caring for graves in Russian cemeteries to temporary pet boarding for animals that cannot yet be taken along.
Three months ago, for Russian emigrants living in the USA and Australia, the project "We Remember" appeared. Through it, one can order grave cleaning, as well as services for finding burial places of relatives. "A person leaves the country, relatives gradually move to them, and as a result, few remain in Russia, so there is no one to care for the graves of relatives.
There have been cases when people requested cleaning to help their living grandparents who lack the strength to care for the plot. Or, for example, a person's mother remained in Russia, she looks after the grave, but they contacted us just to do something nice, to show that they are also involved, that the memory is not lost," says project coordinator Maxim Stroevoy.
Among the services is a subscription for annual maintenance, which includes a general cleaning twice a year. It includes leveling the soil, removing grass and branches, wet cleaning of the monument, and laying flowers and/or a lit candle before leaving. After the work is done, the client receives a photo report showing the condition of the grave before and after cleaning. According to client Andrei Petrovsky, who lives in the USA, a lack of time prompted him to use the service. "And the price for the service compared to the costs that would be required in the form of tickets and time was incomparably lower for me," he added.
Residents of Israel, the UK, and Russia contact the company "Care After". In addition to the photo report, the client receives a description of the work performed, comments from a specialist, a map with the marked burial site and its geographical coordinates. "To show care and honor the memory of a loved one is a sought-after opportunity for many, but difficult to fulfill due to distance," says project coordinator Artyom Belov.
It is quite difficult to paint a portrait of a typical client. Some live abroad on benefits and request a minimum of services, others are company executives with a corresponding scale. "There are situations with complicated family relationships and laying flowers in secret from the deceased's family," adds Belov.
According to Irina, who lives in London, her grandmother's grave remains in Yalta. Now there is no one to visit it – no relatives or acquaintances left, and it was inconvenient to find a person in Crimea willing to fulfill the request, so she had to contact a specialized company. "My mother's tears were significant to me when I showed her photos of grandmother's grave and how everything was done there," Irina said.
The company receives various orders. The smallest cemetery where cleaning was carried out is in the steppe near a village of 15 houses. The farthest is in a closed town 600 kilometers from a large populated area. And for the last order, it was necessary to bring 350 kilograms of Crimean pebbles with shells to arrange one small burial.
Burials with a standard metal monument or a wooden cross with a plaque are the only category of burials that are difficult or impossible to find after 15-20 years of no care, Belov adds. The search for a burial follows this algorithm: first collecting information in archives, then a walking tour of the cemetery, and, as a rule, the desired grave is found within four to eight hours.
The "cemetery" remote services are planned to be expanded. Thus, within the framework of the charity project "No One Is Forgotten", clients will also be able to order a basic cleaning of the nearest abandoned grave to the ordered burial.
People who decide to live in another country often do not want to give up their first citizenship and prefer to hold resident status. According to managing partner of Spencer Estate real estate agency Vadim Lamin, such people usually do not sell their property. Whether upbringing instilled that an apartment is sacred, or they need confidence that there is a place to return to if needed. Usually, to prevent the apartment from sitting empty, they rent it out. However, in most cases, they ask not relatives but real estate companies to look after the living space.
"Many choose an agency to rent out an apartment because they do not want to have financial relations with relatives or friends. Moreover, using the services of an agency, a person is confident that it will not pocket the money. In the case of friends and neighbors, there is no such guarantee," Lamin said.
There are situations when a tenant suddenly moves out after renting an apartment. In such a case, the agency faces the question: "Who will take over the apartment?" Either they have to ask the owner to fly in again, or leave it to the agency, which will be responsible for a "accidentally" torn curtain or broken cup.
Another difficulty is related to transferring money. There are tax restrictions everywhere, and few emigrants want to "show" rental income. Therefore, landlords usually ask someone from "their own" to pick up the money from the agency and only then transfer it to their account.
When leaving for a long time abroad, suitcases must be packed especially carefully. And what to do with a family china set if attempting to take it with you could be classified as exporting antiques and entail additional bureaucratic red tape? You can sell extra items, or you can rent them out. It's more profitable, and moreover, if you return to your homeland, you can start using these things again.
Rentmania developed such an online rental platform. The project began to be in demand among potential emigrants and lovers of long trips. Most often, large-sized items are rented out: exercise equipment, household appliances.
“A family was leaving to spend the winter in Thailand for three months. They rented out ski suits, a bread machine, and many children's items – car seats, strollers, playpens,” cited company co-founder Lyudmila Bulavkina as an example.
According to statistics, almost every second or third family has a pet. Transporting an animal abroad is not easy; you need to prepare a veterinary certificate, an export license, a vaccination certificate, and if there is no tattoo at birth, a microchip with data must be inserted under the skin. Paperwork takes a lot of time and, like any medical examination, can be delayed if diseases are detected.
Because of this, some citizens decide to free themselves from red tape and leave their pet at home. Some for a while, until they settle down, others for life. And for both types of animals, there are pet hotels.
According to the creator of the Uvivo project, Olga Klimova, pet hotels are in high demand. Here you can place both dogs and cats, as well as fish, rodents, and even exotic animals. “We have separate rooms corresponding to the size of the animal. For example, for a small pet such as a Yorkshire Terrier or Chihuahua, the room size is 4-5 square meters. We monitor the nutrition of the inhabitants and their physical condition,” she explained.