«Sanctions will make Russia stronger», «Russia is successful in import replacement», «GDP grows» are regular slogans of Russian officials and propagandists.
The Center of Journalist Investigations asked its readers in occupied Crimea – have Russian aggression against Ukraine and imposed Western sanctions influenced quality of their lives? Readers’ feedback was expected: sanctions negatively impacted their everyday life – from food and drugs to cars.
Country-terrorist, promoting its rockets «Oreshnik» and killing civilians, is not able to propose something valuable for the people. It is not able to produce tasty cheese, high quality home appliances or cars. Russia tries to mitigate its failures by so-called »parallel import» or pirating. But the 15th round of EU sanctions will restrict the activity of pirate fleets operated by Russia to avoid sanctions.
Bad Russian food
Shelves of Crimean supermarkets seem to be full and abundant. However, you will not find there Spanish Jamon, French cheese or Belgian pate. European gourmet food has not been sold anymore in Crimea.
«Assortment seems to be large but the real choice is between non-tasty and non-edible. Russian food products are of low quality. Sausages, cheeses and milk are non-tasty. Canned fish is horrible. But prices are very high. There are also Belorussian food products. They are a little bit better but their prices are also higher. Crimean food products are good but Crimean producers increase prices, too», as says Oleksandr from Simferopol.
«In 2014, we were first surprised by the extent Russian food products were different from Ukrainian ones. Russian cheese was like plastiline, juices were like colored water; their milk was a product of chemistry; beer was not tasty at all. But there were products from Europe at more or less acceptable prices. Now there is no choice at all», as says Zera from Bilogirsk.
Supermarket in Simferopol. Photo: newdaynews.ru
The assortment of European wines and American whiskey shrank in Crimea. Prices are very high.
«Years ago, imported alcoholic beverages were completely sold before the New Year. We were in a hurry to put new bottles on sale. But now they are standing on shelves. Who will buy a bottle of whiskey for 5 thousand Rubles?» as comments Kateryna, seller in Simferopol supermarket.
Stand with elite alcoholic beverages in Simferopol shop. Photo: avatars.mds
Good bye, Samsung and Philips
Shelves of Crimean home appliance stores are full of goods. However, you can hardly find goods manufactured in Europe, US or South Korea. There are just a few boxes of Samsung, Philips or LG. Stores are full of goods from China and Russia. Large international corporations left Russia after Russian full scale invasion into Ukraine in 2022. Reserves of their products are almost empty.
«I would like to buy new washing machine, as says Svitlana from Simferopol, – I had German Bosch. It has worked for twenty years without problems. I would like to buy similar machine. But I was told at the store that there would be no German or European products anymore. They found washing machine of LG, manufactured in Poland, at their warehouse in Rostov. Its cost was 52 thousand Rubles (over 500 USD – ed.). Chinese products are less expensive but their quality is low. So, I had to buy that LG machine. It is expensive but there will be no such machines at all».
Washing machines in home appliance store DNS, Simferopol. Photo: avatars.mds.yandex.net
«My refrigerator broke down and I visited store to find out what I could buy. There are Russian «Saratovs», Belorussian «Atlant», Chinese stuff… they cost 100 thousand Rubles. I asked about Western brands. Sellers proposed me Samsung – for 200 thousand Rubles! (2 thousand USD – ed.). It is like five my salaries. There will be nothing to put into refrigerator», as says Galyna from Bakhchysarai district.
Refrigerator, manufactured in China, for 100 thousand Rubles in Crimean shop. Photo: avatars.mds.yandex.net
Gadgets and games
In 2015, Apple banned supply of its products to occupied Crimea, upon introduction of US sanctions. However, they can be bought in Crimea. Legal sale and servicing are forbidden but there are pirates and «grey market». Prices are skyrocketing.
IPhone in online shop in Crimea. Photo: screenshot from site of shop
Shop «Your gadget» in Simferopol. Photo: avatars.mds.yandex.net
Crimean gamers have also run into problems. Developers of video games refused to service their Crimean clients. Many functions of games and their upgrading were cancelled. Blizzard, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and other renowned developers restricted their activity in Crimea.
«Many games are blocked. It is impossible to play games bought several years ago. Steam works but it does not allow buying. It answers: «This commodity is not accessible in your region». The same happens with Epic Games and Ubisoft. А Origin (EA app) has been completely blocked in Crimea. You can play only with VPN but it is dangerous because you can lose your account, as says gamer Anton from Simferopol. If you have Crimean IP-address, then, you will not be able to download from Google Play and Apple. However, people found how to solve this problem. It is necessary to indicate that you are US resident. But it does not work with games».
Answer to Crimean gamer from company Riot Games. Photo: cs13.pikabu.ru
Expensive used cars and Chinese import
There are dark times for car owners in Crimea. It is difficult and expensive to maintain car in Crimea. The cost of 95th gasoline breaks record – 70 Rubles per liter. Car showrooms, which sold world brands, switched to Chinese cars. Services of maintenance shops are too expensive. It is difficult to find original spare parts for world brands which Crimean residents bought before 2022. Their prices are also skyrocketing.
«Today you should be very wealthy, if you would like to drive good imported car. Repair of German cars is very expensive because it is difficult to bring spare parts from Europe. It is almost impossible to do for American cars. For almost one month, we have not been able to find spare parts for American car. It is stupid to buy Chinese car because they will break down in one year», as says Volodymyr, owner of car maintenance station in Simferopol. «Any repair, even small repair costs dozens of thousand. Last year it cost 20 thousand, now – 200 thousand».
Chinese cars in former car showroom of Volkswagen in Simferopol. Photo: auto.drom.ru
Surprisingly, car accidents solve problems of car owners! There have been a lot of car accidents in Crimea because its narrow streets were not built for growing number of cars brought in by Russian citizens during Russian occupation. Highway «Tavrida» has been often called «death highway».
Sale of spare parts from dismantled cars. Photo: Крымские Разборки
Car cannibalism became profitable business. Each Crimean city has businesses which buy broken cars and dismantle them into spare parts.
They advertise their services all around Crimea: «We dismantle Japanese, German, Korean and Russian cars. We get spare parts for engines, mechanical and automatic transmissions, electronics etc.» They promise that their clients will save time and money. But these promises often do not come true.
«My engine broke down. I bought Chinese spare parts but they did not fit my Volkswagen. Original spare parts are expensive by five times. I had to find cars after accidents. I found but prices were also very high», as says Refat from Simferopol.
Drugs that does not cure
Drugstore in Crimea. Photo: sevastopol.su
It becomes difficult to find foreign drugs in Crimean drugstores. International manufacturers do not want to cooperate with occupied Crimea. As Vasilii Klimov, so-called «head» of Russian Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare in Crimea and occupied Southern Ukraine, told, Crimea suffers from «specific sanctions» when international pharmaceutical companies still cooperate with Russia but refuse to supply their drugs to occupied Crimea.
As he told, «Crimean children with diabetes were recently left without necessary foreign systems of monitoring. The supplier found out that the address of delivery was Crimea and refused to supply. Thus, foreign companies impose special sanctions on Crimea».
The solution was found in China. Their drugs and cars are praised everywhere. But Crimean doctors say that supply of drugs is alarming in Crimea.
«There are no good antibiotics. We have nothing to treat people, as says doctor of Simferopol hospital. People are prescribed drugs, available in drugstores. But Russian analogues do not work, as they have low quality».
Russian companies are cautious in Crimea
Russian companies also refuse to supply their goods to occupied Crimea. As «Krymskaya gazeta» reports, many goods of renowned Russian brands are not accessible for Crimean residents. It lists the following examples: Moscow TsUM, clothes of Roseville, jewelry of SOKOLOV, textiles from Arya home collection.
Attempt to order goods from Russia. Photo: Galyna Amarando
Online shops of mentioned brands inform Crimean residents: «There is no delivery to your region».
So, ten years have passed after Russian occupation of Crimea. What does it have now? Geographical blockade. And consuming blockade…
