Bargain Hunting

Bargain
Hunting

Photos by Sergei Kaptilkin

The era of cheap shopping in Moscow seems long gone.

There was a time when any foray onto main shopping streets like Tverskaya (formerly Gorky) or Novy Arbat (formerly Kalininsky) would have made little impact on your pocket. Though there was often little worth acquiring, you would almost inevitably find a bargain of some kind in some obscure corner.

Now the absolute opposite is true — you can get almost anything you want where you want, but for prices that make most purchases hardly worthwhile, unless they’re unique to Russia (which could make them even more expensive), or you’re not going home for months.

Strange as it may seem, though, life still goes on for the average Muscovite earning $150 a month, and even he/she is able to find the occasional bargain. There are still some things here that are cheaper than in the West. In fact, if you’re shopping in the provinces, life will seem more like it was in the old days, with less choice, and lower prices.

Your Daily Needs

One of the obvious victims of economic reform in Russia has been cheap food. With domestic products no longer subsidized and import prices hiked by travel costs and customs bureaucracy, most prices are equal to or higher than in the West.

Even in this area, though, it is possible to shop cheaply and find bargains. While the ‘When in Rome...’ principle may no longer apply — Russian acquaintances may be well-off and go for the priciest goods — favoring the old state shop network over the new supermarkets is the best policy. Note that even in these types of shops, prices can vary wildly from place to place. Here are some bargains you might find:

Bread: ignore the current abundance of supermarket sliced, packaged bread and head for your local bulochnaya, where you can still find loaves for under 50 cents — cheapest is usually podmoskovny, for as little as R2,000 (40 cents), lighter than the stodgy white bread generally associated with Russia. Brown (otrubnoi) bread is now readily available, for around R2,500, while the best varieties of black rye bread (borodinsky or khamovnichesky) are the most expensive (and also the tastiest) at around R 3,500. If the frequent staleness of Russian bread bothers you, most metro stations and public places have kiosks selling fresher versions of the same.

Milk products: If you come to the shop early you can usually find a good variety of milks, yogurts etc. Though fatty, Russian yogurts and creams may seem heavy on the American stomach. Staples like kefir (sour milk) are a boon for a healthy diet and famous for their anti-carcinogenic properties. Fat ( Ë) percentages vary from 1% (some types of kefir) to 30% (sour cream) and are written on the side of the carton. Expect to pay around R3,000-3,500 for a liter of kefir.

Liquor: With Russian vodka consumption at an all time high, this is a bargain that will surprise few people. Again, it pays to stick to the former state shops (and the smaller, cheaper private ones) over Western supermarkets, which are overpriced, and kiosks, where cheapness usually means nastiness, or, worse, poison. The best-known brand in the west, Stolichnaya, can be found for as little as R13,000 ($2.60) for half a liter, while some larger shops will sell flavored brands for around R25,000. Check the label — the best vodka is made by Moscow’s Kristall factory; if it comes from Baku, you don’t want to drink it.

When choosing wines and champagnes, it pays to be more selective. You can usually find reasonable champagne for R20-25,000 ($4-5), and, if it’s bottled in Moscow, you’re safe. For double the price or more, Crimean and Moldovan vintage varieties should be reserved for more discerning acquaintances. For the same $5, fine Georgian wines like Kvanchkara and Kindzmarauli (Stalin’s favorite brands) are an acceptable purchase.

Russian beer, once uniformly hoppy and gut-wrenching, has made big strides in recent years, with firms like Baltika and Tverskoye producing highly drinkable brands. They are readily available in kiosks, and have none of the hidden dangers of kiosk vodka (though check sell-by dates). Expect to pay as little as R4,000 (80 cents) for a half-liter bottle — in comparison, the same quantity of imported draft beer in one of the city’s numerous bars will set you back around R25,000.

Caviar: An obvious bargain, when you think that the former Soviet Union has the lion’s share of the world’s sturgeon. Stocks may be depleting rapidly, but let’s face it: you’re not going to find it any cheaper anywhere else. You should be able to find 4 oz. jars of black caviar, often already packed in export jars, for as little as R60,000 ($14)

Bargains to take home

Many of the above can be taken home, though if you are considering taking a leaf out of some Russians’ books and starting your own buying and selling ‘business,’ you should check up on customs rules before making bulk purchases.

If, on the other hand, you’re simply looking for gifts, or more lasting reminders of your visit, how do you avoid paying extortionate prices for things whose good quality is only assured by the stranger who is selling them?

Souvenirs: You could head for the Izmailovo open air market at the weekend. There are plenty of bargains to be found here (see sidebar). But for this you need a sober head and good business sense. Be prepared for sellers to hike prices if there’s a hint of the tourist about you.

If, on the other hand, you’re feeling neither sober nor businesslike, try one of the city’s khudozhestvenniye salony (art salons), usually small craft shops with fixed, lower prices. They may have direct links with the best artists or provincial craft centers, and sell original and unusual artifacts. They are also a better bet for the more standard types of souvenir, like matryoshka dolls and Palekh lacquer boxes.

If you’re a real bargain-hunter, and feeling adventurous, you could head out to one of the many villages outside Moscow where such crafts are made, and try contacting the craftsmen directly at home or in their workshops. Places like Fedoskino (lacquer boxes), Gzhel (porcelain) and Zhostovo (painted trays) are not far from the city. The Moscow- and Washington-based Patriarchy Dom tour company arranges tours to these and other centers, and also holds twice-yearly artisan’s fairs in Moscow (in April and November), to which they invite only reputable and honest craftsmen.

Art books: Though these too are available at Izmailovo, and in most hotel bookshops, you should avoid buying them there, and do as you would with food —use the old state network. Dom Knigi and Biblio Globus have impressive collections on both Russian and foreign artists, at prices which, though a good deal higher than they used to be, still haven’t caught up with US rates. Any shop with the sign bukinist is likely to have bargains too, though there will be an emphasis on second hand books.

Cheap imports:

The recent flood of consumer goods from Turkey, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and China onto the Russian market has given people here access to things (such as clothes) they can afford, at a quality which is better than they used to expect. However, this quality generally falls well short of Western standards. There is one area, though, where such purchases may be worthwhile:

Compact Discs: one of Moscow’s most unexpected bargain areas is the gorbushka market, selling every imaginable kind of cassette, video, CD and CD Rom for prices you wouldn’t believe (R15,000 [$3] for western rock and pop CDs, R20,000 [$4] for classical, occasionally cheaper for Russian folk and classical) . Most of these products are Bulgarian or Chinese, but as CDs are the same quality the world over, you don’t have to worry about standards. There is a hitch, though — these CDs (which look exactly like western-made products) are a case of pure piracy, so if you want a clear conscience, don’t buy. Also be warned that pressure to conform to licensing laws could force prices up in the near future.

Useful Moscow Addresses

Biblio Globus bookstore:
ul. Myasnitskaya 6, metro Lubyanka, tel. (095) 928-3567;

Dom Knigi bookstore:
ul. Novy Arbat 8, metro Arbatskaya, tel. (095) 290-3580;

Gorbushka market (CDs):
Fili Park, metro Bagrationovskaya;

Izmailovo market (souvenirs): metro Izmailovsky Park;

Moskovsky Fond Kultury
(souvenirs):ul. Pyatnitskaya 16, metro Novokuznetskaya, tel. (095)231-3302;

Patriarchy Dom (tour company): tels./fax (095) 926-5680, (502)220-3680 (Moscow), (202) 363-9610 (Washington, D.C.);

Salon Iskusstva (paintings, souvenirs): ul. Bolshaya Yakimanka 52, metro Oktyabrskaya, tel. (095) 238-9523;

Tsentralny Salon: Ukrainsky Bulvar 6, metro Kievskaya, tel. (095) 243-9468;

12 Ulitsa Petrovka( paintings, jewelry, art books): metro Teatralnaya, Okhotny Ryad, tel. (095) 924-2988.

Some Bargains at Izmailovo

Amber necklaces, ear-rings, bracelets$9-50

Flax (towels, handkerchiefs etc., set) from $40

Glass¹ (6 wine glasses) $20

(wine glass set with decanter)$25

Lace handkerchiefs, shawls from $10

Shawls from Pavlovo Posad (pure wool, floral

patterns), 1.5m x 1.5m from $25

Shkatulki (plain wooden boxes for jewelry,

documents) from $40

1 the cheapness of these prices is explained by the fact that workers at the factory are paid in glass instead of money, and go to sell the product themselves.