Will Russian ruble’s fall spell trouble for cross-border shopping?
![](https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/04/storskog-many-cars.jpg)
Following the ruble crash in 2014, cross-border travel dropped by a third between Russia and Norway in the north. At the time, the ruble lost some 40-50% of its value compared with both the Norwegian kroner and the euro.
This week, the ruble is again plunging, following a fresh set of U.S. sanctions. Wednesday morning the euro exceeded 80 rubles, up from just under 71 by the end of last week. A Norwegian kroner can be bought for 7,9 rubles in most banks in Murmansk on Wednesday.
At Storskog, Norway’s border check-point to Russia’s Kola Peninsula, Police in charge of immigration control keeps track of statistics.
After the last ruble crash, month by month traffic was down 34% from January 2014 compared with the same month in 2015. Year-by-year, traffic was down 23,5%. Majority of border crossers are Russians driving for shopping in Kirkenes, the nearest town on the Norwegian side.
![](https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/04/ruble.jpg)
Similar drop in border traffic was seen between Russia and Finland.
Traffic continued down with another 3,3% from 2015 to 2016, but then saw an increase of 12,6% from 2016 to 2017. So far this year, cross-border traffic at Storskog is down 1,3%.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: North American Arctic is failing compared to Russia, Nordics, warns think tank, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: In crisis, would Finland’s supplies be safe on Arctic rail near Russian border?, YLE News
Iceland: High peak in low season, Iceland’s mass-tourism boiling over, The Independent Barents Observer
Norway: Murmansk-Oslo gets first ever flight link, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: With Arctic rush, Russia beats natural gas production records, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Nordic countries expel Russian diplomats, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: NATO wants to keep the Arctic an area of low tensions, Radio Canada International