That's because he lives in Far East. Russia is a big country with VERY BAD roads, especially if you drive from West to East. At some point there is no road at all. In Winter you can go over the ice/packed snow, but in Summer the only way is railroad. This place called "Blagoveshinsk" Railroad is the only land connection between East and West. That's why in Vladivostok, Petropavlovs-Komchatsky and other East cities 90% of the vehicles are imported from Japan. It's much cheaper then brings them from European part of Russia.