The man who was formerly head of Goldman Sachs in Moscow says it's outdated to assume there's anything weird about working in financial services in Russia

We've spent some time on this site looking at the issue of culture shock as Russian bankers who've been working overseas return to Moscow, or as Western bankers arrive to work in the city. One Russian born-banker who came back to Moscow found the situation unbearable and returned to New York City.

Now, however, in the wake of this weekend's protests against the inauguration of Vladimir Putin, Chris Barter, the former head of Goldman Sachs' Moscow office who left earlier this year to set up DMC Partners, a Moscow-based emerging markets hedge fund, says claims that Russia's business culture is any different to elsewhere are outmoded. In particularly, he says it's wrong to think corruption is endemic.

"It feel like, both for the US and the UK, the perception of Russia is at least 10 years behind in time," Barter told the US website Business Insider.

Questions like, 'What is it like to live and do business in Moscow? How much security do you have? Is there a big mafia problem? How do you avoid organized crime,?' were relevant nearly 10 years ago but are completely irrelevant now," says Barter. "I’m not saying there’s no organized crime in Russia, of course there is, [but] I never come across it, I don’t have any bodyguards, I’ve never had a security issue in Moscow in the entire time I’ve been there. It’s just like any developing country that’s growing."

Barter also says that Russia is a better bet than China, where he was made to feel like a "visitor" and that government-owned entities commonly failed to honour financial contracts. In Russia, he says he was made to feel a "permanent member of the financial community" and implies that contracts were honoured fine.