St. Petersburg, Russia
Shore Excursion and Port Information
By Stanj

Money!
I thought that would get your attention, and now that I have it, I would like to discuss the very confusing issue of money in Russia.  As you probably know the currency of Russia is the Ruble.  There is a fractional denomination called the Kopec, which is 1/100^th of a Ruble. For many decades the Ruble was worth approximately the same as a US Dollar but during the 1990 when the new Russian Federation was trying to establish a new form of economy and government after the demise of the Soviet Union, the value of the Ruble fluctuated wildly as inflation caused the Ruble to tumble in value. In 1998, a period all Russians know as the Crisis, the Ruble was devalued greatly in an attempt to stabilize it. Most Russians lost the value of their savings in the beginning stages of the new lower valued Ruble. Visitors in that period got a real bargain if they came with dollars but there was general depression for the Russian economy.  At the time few saw the eventual good from that devaluation but since 2000, the Ruble has been the most stable currency in all of Europe, and the economy has come back with average growth of 8% a year.

What does this history lesson have to do with cruising?  Well, a lot.  It means that things you purchase whether services, goods or entertainment will be about the same as Europe in the new Russian economy and as a hold over from the period of instability, private transactions are often done in foreign currencies, mostly Euros or dollar.  This was a hedge against Ruble value instability to keep savings at home in foreign currencies. 

Businesses are not allowed to conduct business in anything but Rubles but higher priced items are often priced in y.e. which is an abbreviation in Russian for “equivalent units” which is normally the current exchange rate for Dollars or Euros.  Since the rate is averaging 28.5:1 Dollar or 34.10:1 Euros, the price tags look more reasonable than the Ruble amount the item is selling for.

For several years taking dollars was a safe way to protect the value of your money in case the value changed  during your stay.  But since the Ruble has become so stable, private transactions such as buying a used car or even an apartment is now done inRubles. 

Cruisers like to arrange for the currencies of the countries they will visit through banks or exchange offices in their home country but it is not so easy to get Rubles from your local bank.  The primary reason for this lack of Rubles is that until recently it was illegal to take the Ruble out of the country and it is not a hard currency used in Foreign Exchange trading markets.  President Putin has promised that the Ruble will be available for international currency trade in the next 2 years, a reflection of the confidence in the financial markets of the Rubles stability.  At that time it will be easy to get Rubles at competitive exchange rates but now it might be possible to get limited quantities of Rubles at your local back, due it not being traded internationally there is no good deal available. 

Why take Rubles?  Actually it does not matter much since most tours and shore excursions are all inclusive in pricing so there are limited opportunities to spend Rubles except shopping for souvenirs.  Reputable stores accept credit and debit cards with good settlement exchange rates so using the plastic appears in Rubles on you receipt but your monthly statement will list in your local card issuer’s currency.  Cash Rubles are available almost everywhere from ATM machines that have become even more common that cell phone stores, which in Russia is sort of like saying they are ubiquitous.

Legitimate stores and cafes only accept Rubles so it is interesting to read suggestion after suggestion on cruise forums that you should take dollars for purchases because some street venders will accept them.  What the suggestion is usually based on is one visitor finding a vendor in one of two places in St Petersburg where some accept dollars “under the table” These are the two most visited outdoor  souvenir markets, across the street from the Church in Spilled Blood and in the parking lot of St Isaac Cathedral.  The only problems with this type of transaction besides being illegal, are  poor exchange rate that’s given and no change is given so the vendor earn quite a bit more by rounding up to the nearest whole $5 bill.   Without a doubt you can get a better deal with Rubles or credit cards than Dollars contrary to popular suggestions on cruise forums.

If you do want to bring dollars or Euros be aware that to be accepted in Russia they must be unmarked without ink or stains, untorn, and without much visible wear.  The most common US denomination in Russia is the $100 bill.

Since we are talking about money, naturally shopping comes to mind.  Everybody back home wants something from your visit and you like to find little bargains. Most souvenirs sold in St Petersburg really do not apply much to St Petersburg, but to Russia more on a whole.  As locals and visitors alike agree, St Petersburg is not Russia. It was designed from the ground up to be not Russia and they succeeded.  The most common gifts found in souvenir shops are: Matryoshka dolls (the crafts type nesting dolls, not Russian at all but came originally from Japan in the mid 1890s), fur hats, reproductions of military medals and pins, lacquered boxes and crystals etched with lasers are all quite commonly found in all the souvenir shops.  But the items that are connected in some way to St  Petersburg are more interesting gifts: china and porcelain (particularly Lomonosov China which is made here), fashions including women s clothing and fashion furs, locally distilled vodka, jewelry(gold, amber and gems stones primarily), objects of art, and inexpensive (or very expensive) fine art.  The “coffee-table” photo books of the great palaces and museums are perfect gifts, are reasonably priced and offer the best images of the sights that might have had less than optimum lighting and crowds. These stunning books are great gift to yourself also. The best selections of photo books are in the Museum souvenir shops or Dom Knigi (House of Books, the largest book store in St Petersburg located on Nevsky prospekt one block south of the famous 18^th century shopping center Gostniy Dvor). 

Shopping is a sore subject for some because the options are so great and the time so short but that problem is often made worse by some of the tour companies which have commission deals with one shop, a sure way of not getting a good deal.  One tour company even has its own store that is a required visit even if you do not want to shop there.  Ask you tour company and guide what their policy is if shopping is important to you, a flexible company should be willing to take you where ever has the best selection and prices on the types of items you are looking for.

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