Eastern European Market Profile THE EASTERN-EUROPEAN MARKET PROFILE SUMMARY OF EASTERN-EUROPE  - market for the general purpose software is in the infant state, and there is little hope it will develop into something more developed in the near future. There are some business opportunities for expensive, vertical-market applications (like specialized accounting software for enterprises), but such customers prefer buying such software from local producers. LANGUAGE - Russian is the official language in Russia, Ukrainian in Ukraine, etc. Most people from the neighborhood countries (former USSR republics) understand Russian as well, and can use it, if needed. Most people working with computers understand common English terms used in software, and can read English manuals and Help files. CURRENCY - US Dollars is the preferred currency to keep and save money. It is not accepted in shops, though, so you have to convert US dollars into the local currency before shopping. The currency exchanges are available at almost every street corner. HOLIDAYS - Russian Full Holidays: January 1 - New Year January 7 - Christmas March 8 - Women's Day May 1,2 May 9 -Victory Day June 12 - Independence Day November 7,8 - Reconcilation Day COMMON FORMS OF ACCEPTED PAYMENT - Cash. Credit/Debit cards begin to take off, too. Checks are used almost exclusively for inter-business operations. Wire transfers are possible, too. Purchase orders are unheard of. TAXES - SOFTWARE PIRACY - is a common way to acquire software. Pirated discs are sold at supermarkets and bookstores. For example, you can buy a disc with MS Office for about $10. SHAREWARE SITES - There are typically two kinds of shareware sites Upload vs. Traditional, below are examples and the pros and cons of each. Russian Registration and Shareware Services Examples of traditional and registration sites: http://www.download.ru (will only list russian titles) http://www.tfmik.ru (Feelix Moochnik) DOMAINS - Below are the most common domain extensions .ru (russia) - a popular extension for Russian sites .ua (ukraine) - extension for Ukrainian Sites .yu (yugoslavia) PRESS -   DISTRIBUTION -   Publishers - Catalog Companies - Resellers - Distribution - This site was compiled with information from Boris Sandberg BVS Solitaire and Andrei Belogortseff from WinAbility