To circumvent international sanctions and the closure of many shops, more and more Russians are choosing… Belarus.
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If the big brands Ikea, H&M, Adidas, Nike, Uniqlo, Apple left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, most of them remain present in the neighbor and Belarusian ally, 700 km from Moscow. And the Russians take the opportunity to go shopping in Minsk.
Thus, according to Russian tourism professionals, the number of departures to Belarus increased by 15% this summer. And the climate of the local dictatorship has nothing to do with it: it is the shops in the capital Minsk that interest many of these Russian tourists. All the major Western brands are indeed present there, unlike in Moscow where some 1,200 foreign companies have left or severely restricted their activities.
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“You don’t need a visa, it’s not expensive, you can go by car“, assures Yulia, a 31-year-old Muscovite who works in IT, and who is one of those tourists not quite like the others.
International sanctions are bearable, she says. But he misses some things. And so she left this summer with her spouse. “I can’t say it’s critical, that my life is in danger. We have food, medicine. My basic needs are covered. But among the things that have left Russia that bother me are basic clothing stores, like Zara. And I’m having trouble finding an alternative in terms of value for money. So we decided to go to Minsk“, assures the young woman.
Yulia also took the opportunity to open a bank account on the spot which issued her a credit card allowing her to make payments abroad, which Russian cards no longer allow… Many Russians can no longer pay their Netflix subscriptions or buy computer software.