Referendum on 18 February in Riga.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Friday, 17 February 2012
Second language
On 18 February citizens of Latvia will vote in a referendum whether the Russian language should have an official status in Latvia. In reality Russian is already a second language in Latvia as it is commonly used all around.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus
Friday, 3 February 2012
Inflation 2
In the photo above you see prices for cigarettes today. Below - what the smokes used to cost two years ago. As you see, prices have gone up, for instance, a pack of Winston was 1,52 LVL, now - 1,80 LVL. Some cigarettes have also been discontinued in Latvia, such as Elita and Prince.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Cheap perfume
Sakta, Sasha, Russian wood, Red Moscow - these are brands of perfumes at a market in Riga. Price starts at 1 EUR. I believe most of it is consumed internally by homeless alcoholics to whom this liquid is cheaper (but stronger) than, for instance, vodka. Thanks to alcoholics the cheap perfume industry has survived the Soviet Union, European Union and economical crisis, and might live forever.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus
Monday, 30 January 2012
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Pawnshops
One of the most visible aftereffects of the economical crisis in Latvia is the raise of pawshops (called "lombards" in Latvian). Six years ago you could find just a few of them, today - almost on every street. Since most of the people live from salary to salary it is common to run out of money; people hand in mobile phones, gold and other valuables as pawns to get small high interest loans. If they are unable to pay it back, the pawnshop sells their pawns.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus
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