Cross-border trade with East on the rise

In 2014, foreigners from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus spent 18 percent more than a year before at border stores and restaurants, which corresponds to over PLN 9.6 billion in total, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported. Ukrainians bought services and goods worth nearly PLN 5.7 billion, 23 percent more than in 2013. Belarusians spent over PLN 3.1 billion in Polish frontier towns and cities, a 4.3 percent increase compared with 2013.  Russian customers spent the least, over PLN 840 million, a growth of 44.2 percent year-on-year.

The value of purchases made by foreigners from the above countries accounts for 12 percent of retail sales of Polish frontier voivodeships, the daily also informed.