Trains from Belarus to Ukraine are full with people who go on shopping trips.
UNIAN writes it with a link to Polish Gazeta Wyborcza.
“Trips to Poland used to be popular, but Poland appeared to be too expensive after the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble. Ukraine's hryvnia lost its value, too. Products were cheaper there even before the devaluation, but now Ukraine has turned into a real Eldorado,” says Vasili Matskevich from Pinsk, a Belarusian town 30 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
He says that trains to Ukraine are full with people who want to buy goods cheaper. Meat in Ukraine costs half as much than in Belarus, apples cost 40-50% less, cleaning products cost 30-40% less.
The newspaper writes that Belarusians begin to change their views on the situation in Ukraine after such trips.
“People who watch Russian TV were afraid of visiting Ukraine after the Maidan protests,” says Belarusian journalist Anatol Hatouchyts from Homel, a town 40 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
“The situation has changed. People go there and see that normal life continues in near-border districts. They now laugh at those who are still afraid to go to Ukraine due to the influence of the media,” the journalist notes.
The Ukrainian hryvnia fell from 16 to 30-40 hryvnias a dollar in the second half of February. The hryvnia began to rise this week due to the measures taken by the Ukrainian authorities and has reached a rate of 23-24 hryvnias a dollar on the interbank currency exchange.
