RUSSIA: Confirmation that Moscow is Europe's boomtown has come with the news that it is officially the world's most expensive city.
Soaring property prices have seen the Russian capital overtake London, New York and Tokyo to capture top spot in a survey of 144 world cities.
The survey, by American business consultants Mercer, also confirms the shift in the world's wealth away from the West to other parts of the globe. The three next most expensive cities are South Korea's capital, Seoul, then Hong Kong and then Tokyo, with London coming fifth.
"It can be more expensive to send employees to work in Russia or Korea than in places like Japan or Switzerland," said Mercer's Rebecca Powers.
Moscow's wealth is impossible to miss. Streets that were once grim and grey are now jammed with dazzling restaurants and boutiques.
Restaurants import French chefs and nightclubs fly in British DJs, with prices to match.
The wealth has come courtesy of high oil prices, with Russia having edged out Saudi Arabia as the world's leading exporter.
The price of land has quadrupled in the past five years and Moscow can boast more billionaires - 33 - than New York.
Moscow's skyline is now dotted with bright new housing projects for the rich, with architects, including the world-renowned Norman Foster, joining a migration of talent to Russia.
But the new wealth has brought new problems: the streets are clogged day and night with Mercedes and SUVs. Inflation is edging towards 8 per cent and the would-be middle class are struggling to afford to buy their own homes.
"It is too expensive to live here," says Maria Telepnova (23), who works at Silvers Irish Bar near the Kremlin.
"Restaurants are expensive. And clothes are more expensive here than in London."
This prosperity is also uneven. While Russia has an estimated 100,000 millionaires, poverty is common outside Moscow.
And even the expatriates are starting to complain.
"A bottle of Chablis you might pay eight dollars for back in California will cost you ninety dollars in restaurants here," said American property consultant Michael White, a resident in Moscow for 10 years.
The development boom is also causing problems, as hundreds of historic buildings are torn down to make way for shopping centres, luxury homes and offices.
"The cost of land has shot up so there's a lot more pressure to develop," says Clementine Cecil, a British architectural historian. "Historic buildings are under siege from developers."