BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Polish Culture Going to a concert!

At the end of October I will be going to a concert by the popular Russian group "Time Machine" the "October" concert hall in central St Petersburg.

This will be my first concert since May 2003 - a long time! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The price for a ticket in the 8th row - 2200 rubles.

Enjoy the concert Eric. Rubles??? I thought Russia would be using Euro Rubles, or something like that, by now.

What else would Russia use besides rubles? Russia isn't a member of the EU, and isn't even looking to become a member. The only possible change to the currency will be when Belarus, Kazakhstan, and maybe Ukraine start using the same currency with Russia. First, it will be Russian rubles, then a new currency, also called rubles. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Rubles have been around since the Middle Ages, and no one in Russia is looking to replace them. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Eric,

I hope you would enjoy the concert! Referring to rubels - what is its exchange rate towards dollars now? When I was in Lvov in late 80-es rubel was still very high compared to Polish zloty. It was like 4 rubels = 1 dollar. So - Russian economy was in much better shape than Polish was <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> at least in the aspect of strong currencies. But I guess, many things changed during the last 15-20 years.

For me it looks almost as a year ago <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

and then, if nothing changes in the long run - the Chinese yuan <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />



What about American dollar? Is it still accepted just as if it were the second Russian currency?

Jaga, the rate of ruble was not subject to free economy evaluation, it was artificially kept at some level by the authorities. Is ruble exchangeable today, anybody knows?

Right now, $1 is about 28.40 rubles, and 1 euro is around 33 rubles. The ruble won't be a fully convertable currency for another few years; however, it is accepted for exchange abroad, only at arbitrary rates set by those doing the conversion.

The Soviet ruble, however, was a different matter. It was a non-convertable currency, and its value was set by the government. In dealing with other currencies, there existed a "convertable ruble", which was of equal value to the Soviet ruble, but used for external transactions.

Dollars have lost their popularity in Russia, and euros are becoming more and more popular as the preferred foreign currency.

Jaga - in the late 1980s, the Soviet economy was a disaster, thanks to Gorbachov's perestroika. However, the rate of the ruble wasn't changed until just before the USSR ended.

Eric, enjoy! Carl

Eric, if you visit Moscow, go to Voice of Russia (formerly Radio Moscow) and see my colleagues: Yuri Reshetnikov and Joe Adamov (if he returns from illness). They�ve been answering my questions on Moscow Mailbag in English. Thanks & keep in touch. Carl

So, it didn't change much - the ruble is still not subject to free economy evaluation. I remember the time when Poland finally freed herself from the fetters of Moscow-inspired, economically absurd and socially criminal system. One of the hallmarks of the great come-back to economical normality was the introduction of exchaneability of Polski Zloty. It was so long ago, and at the smae time, just a while ago!