For a big company such as Syktyvkar, that sort of thing is annoying but surmountable.

ECONOMIST: A survey of Russia

He solved the Ukrainian problem by finding a friend there to open an office with no formal ownership ties to Syktyvkar.

ECONOMIST: A survey of Russia

In a teacher training college in remote Syktyvkar, the unannounced arrival of a British journalist in an English class provokes a lively and well-informed discussion of Rudyard Kipling's novels.

ECONOMIST: Life for most Russians is bleak, unhealthy and short