As companies continue to seek out trained, cheap labor, the eastern Europeans offer such an enticing supply that many western European companies have already opened operations in countries like Ukraine. Moscow is not, however, a cheap eastern European city.

The Economist reported:

Moscow finally reached the top of an international ranking in late June, when Mercer Human Resources Consulting named it the world’s most expensive city. Mercer’s survey compared the cost of living for expatriates in 144 cities by assessing the price of housing, food, entertainment and some 200 goods and services. This year Moscow moved from fourth place to replace Tokyo; Seoul was a surprise second, with Tokyo third and Hong Kong fourth. Moscow’s ascent was due mostly to the capital’s soaring property prices. Mercer calculated that a luxury two-bedroom apartment in the city centre costs $3,100 a month, compared with $2,390 in Paris, while the average monthly wage in Moscow is $500. Business hotel rates are also higher in Moscow than anywhere else in the world.

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