Interview in El Observador
Uruguay Smart Estate
- #Relocation
A major El Observador interview with the founders of Uruguay Smart Estate. Published on 25 April 2026.
El Observador is one of Uruguay’s leading news outlets, founded in 1991 in Montevideo. A modern digital medium covering politics, economy, business, culture and society, it is regarded as an authoritative source with an emphasis on analysis and quality journalism.
The remarkable story of a Russian couple who brought more than 100 families and investors to Uruguay
Konstantin Berkov ended up here almost by chance. The former Moscow Dynamo basketball player travelled more than 700 kilometres to a friend’s wedding, unaware that he would meet at the station a woman who would become his wife, mother of his children and business partner. Being 203 centimetres tall did not stop him from falling in love at first sight.
But the boldest step — or the craziest, considering all the circumstances — was ahead. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Konstantin moved within two months to a country whose name and online search results were all he knew: Uruguay. The whole family soon followed.
Russia is a dictatorship disguised as a democracy. There is fear that at any moment you may be mobilised to fight Ukrainians, who are essentially your brothers. Uruguayans sometimes do not realise how valuable their freedom is, he says in Spanish, which he learned out of necessity after arriving in 2022, holding an espresso cup that seems toy-like in his large hands.
Although he and his wife Lisa now attract investors and immigrants from countries that are not traditional sources of immigration for Uruguay, he sometimes plays basketball in the evenings on the parents’ team at his children’s school. At shared barbecues, over a glass of Tannat, he always makes the toast: ‘Long live Uruguay!’
Neither Konstantin nor Lisa keeps exact statistics, but they estimate that their consultations, housing rentals and other services have brought ‘more than 100 families’ of immigrants to Uruguay. Many invested around US$2 million in construction, restaurants and technology companies.
National Directorate of Migration data show a rise in residency applications from less traditional nationalities. Russia saw a spike during the war, and the United States is also at one of its peaks.
It is difficult to estimate how many of these people saw Konstantin and Lisa’s viral Russian- and English-language social-media videos ‘selling’ Uruguay. Some investors put in millions but do not live in the country permanently.
Reaching their current position was not easy despite their business-management education.
More than just war
Konstantin’s mother was an Olympic handball champion for the USSR. The family lived in what is now Azerbaijan and later moved to Moscow.
Russia, especially its large cities, remains a dynamic and relatively cosmopolitan country with fast services.
But a few months after the war began, Konstantin found himself alone at Carrasco Airport. His luggage was lost, nobody spoke English, and he did not know how to reach the home in Salinas that acquaintances had lent him temporarily.
He arrived at the beginning of winter — without warm clothes and without proper heating.
‘For a Russian to complain about the cold!’ he jokes.
He found warmth in people: Uruguayans helped him with housing, he supplemented his income by repairing houses, drawing on experience from a Moscow construction business, and later brought his family over.
Lisa also learned Spanish in Uruguay, largely thanks to the children:
They studied at a public school for several years, and the dedication of the teachers was simply amazing, she says, adding that teachers even downloaded translation apps to help the children.
At first, Lisa worked in the confectionery business, sometimes making Russian sweets. But the income did not always cover their accustomed standard of living.
Many things in Uruguay seemed slow to them: phone service, bureaucracy. But they saw an opportunity in that: why not turn Konstantin’s construction business into a turnkey service for immigrants?
After a blogger told their story, the post received more than 400,000 views. The confectionery work gave way to a new business connected with property and investments.
When asked where they see themselves in 15 years, Konstantin replies:
I see myself in Uruguay, on a farm with cows, with a small restaurant, enjoying mate and the sun.
Lisa looks at him with a smile: she leans more towards urban life, culture and her project helping immigrant children.
But on one thing they agree: they want to remain in Uruguay — ‘in a country built by immigrants, where everyone is welcomed regardless of religion, skin colour, accent or sexual orientation. That is very valuable in the modern world.’
Link to the publication (Spanish)
La jugada de una pareja rusa que atrajo "a más de 100 familias" e inversionistas a Uruguay.
