Prices for Christmas trees in Russia soared to 22,000 rubles

Imported fluffy trees have become inaccessible to Muscovites

It seems that on the eve of the New Year, many Muscovites will have to give up another habit from the good old days. Fluffy Christmas trees, like on postcards, are becoming obscenely expensive. And the reason is simple: these trees, unlike the “worker-peasant” Christmas trees with short needles, are imported – with all the ensuing problems and high cost. How much you have to pay for a “premium class” tree and whether we should expect import substitution of Christmas trees – MK found out.

The fact that the Christmas trees ordered and going to Russian cities from Europe will cost at least 70% more than last year, was recently reported by representatives of Christmas tree bases. In fact, this figure turned out to be, to put it mildly, underestimated. Wholesalers said that due to logistical inconsistencies, trucks with Christmas trees go in a roundabout way, crossing several borders. This in itself increases the cost of delivery to Russia, and the need to pay through intermediary banks and intermediate currencies makes transactions even more expensive. As a result, the delivery of one truck with trees almost tripled in price – from 10 to 28 thousand US dollars.

Now there is an opportunity to find out retail prices. In Moscow, a Danish spruce (the one that is like a regular one, only fluffy, as if from a picture) costs 10,700 rubles for a copy 150-170 centimeters high. A two-meter (from 200 to 220 centimeters) will cost twice as much – 20,800 rubles. Fraser firs have the same price order (respectively, 12,200 and 22,700 rubles).

Given the total New Year’s costs – definitely a “fierce premium”. Of course, many Muscovites did not skimp on natural Christmas trees before, and now, in principle, they will not get poorer from such a price tag. But it is obvious that there is another layer: people who are ready to spend about 10 thousand rubles on a two-meter fluffy beauty (this is how much the trees cost last year) are no longer ready to give 22 thousand.

– On average, in Moscow, the share of imported Christmas trees last year was approximately 20%, – MK was told in one of the firms represented at the capital’s Christmas tree markets. – In different regions, sales were very different: somewhere (for example, there were such points in Novogireevo, Koptev, Pechatniki) not a single imported tree was sold per day, somewhere (for example, in Khamovniki) sales reached half.

The company did not undertake to predict the exact magnitude of the decrease in demand for imported Christmas trees. However, in order to insure against unsold volumes, the trade in imported Christmas trees will be more actively transferred online. “For the time being, we will reduce the number of bazaars where imported spruces and firs will be presented,” the wholesale company said. – But no one will tell you the specific places yet. If you need exact availability, go to the site, place an order and then either delivery or pickup.

Muscovites, accustomed to the “premium”, have not yet come to terms with the new prices. “We are thinking whether we will buy a Danish Christmas tree this year or save money and buy an ordinary one,” says mother of three children Irina Maslova. – In the last 15 years, we only had Danish ones, because children need a holiday, which means that the Christmas tree should be like in the picture. But given the general situation, such a rise in price … I don’t know, so far I doubt whether there will be enough money.

At the same time, a shortage of “common” domestic Christmas trees is not expected, there will be no shortage, confirmed both in the wholesale company and in one of the nurseries of the Kostroma region, where New Year’s products are grown. In most cities, except for Moscow and St. Petersburg, as reported in the nursery, they buy exactly the common spruce (European), which is grown in Russia.

– A serious drawback of the common spruce – short needles, – said the director of the nursery Vladimir Pashkin. – The meaning of the passion for European varieties is precisely to get a small tree, up to two meters, whose needles are the same or more magnificent than those of an adult Russian spruce. We are gradually starting to plant these varieties, but not in droves. The New Year tree grows for 5-8 years, so there is no quick import substitution.

As in many other cases in agriculture, planting stock is the bottleneck, says Pashkin. They did not have time to import it from the West before the sanctions in sufficient quantities, which means that the shortage will have to be filled partly slowly and painfully (from domestic material), and partly at inflated prices through parallel imports.