How can you make money with Finland. How to start a trading business with Finland. What cannot be exported

Citizens are taken to Finland for free for cheese, and they also pay extra for the “just a passenger” service

How long have you been eating real camembert or dor blue? Buying them in Russia is problematic, but you really want to! An unusual service is gaining momentum - free shopping tours to Finnish supermarkets. For the service, they will be asked to say at the exit at customs that 45 kilos of food in the trunk also belong to you. And then the organizers will sell them in Russia at a premium.

“Tourists” will be allocated a place in a minibus, taken to the Land of thousands of lakes, dropped off at the store, and then taken back to Russia along with purchases.

How all this happens in practice and why the Finns are shocked by the behavior of Russians in their stores - in our material.

St. Petersburg, Vosstaniya Square, 5 am. It is from here that hundreds of fixed-route taxis leave for Finland every day. Most of them are tourist ones, they take people to Helsinki. But there is another, more curious category of carriers. The end point of their route is the Finnish border cities of Lappeenranta and Imatra. Guests from Russia go there not at all to admire the beauties, but with a quite prosaic goal - to buy food and household chemicals.

However, the stories that the inhabitants of St. Petersburg and the surrounding area regularly visit Finland for tasty and cheap food will not surprise anyone. Facilitated conditions for obtaining a Schengen visa and the proximity of the border make such shopping very affordable. A one-way trip costs no more than 1000 rubles, you can find cheaper - it depends on the comfort of the transfer. Many people prefer to use their own car.

The sanctions imposed against Russia have significantly increased the flow of our citizens to the supermarkets of our closest European neighbors. Foreign cheese, milk, meat products, fish, chocolate - all these products are not uncommon on the tables of St. Petersburg residents.

But time passes, a decent import substitution has not happened, and every week stocking up on food in Finland has become costly both physically and economically. Entrepreneurial compatriots and then found a way out. Some time ago, offers called “Free shopping tours to Finland” proliferated on a huge scale in the service market. There are more than a hundred groups on social networks offering to take everyone to the country of Suomi and back for free.

What is behind this phenomenon? To get started, just take an express trip on the Internet. Search by keywords "free tours to Finland", "free to Finland for one day", "free shopping in Finland", etc.

The organizers attract customers as best they can: “Boys and girls, as well as their parents, feel free to join the group, fun trips to Finland are absolutely free!”. In the comments - a huge number of applications with phone numbers and dates.

To the rare questions “why is it free, what’s the catch?” company representatives remain silent. But in personal correspondence they become more frank.

Indeed, the trip will cost the fellow traveler for free. But for this, he will have to “write on himself” at the border those goods that the organizers will purchase for their needs. It is in this way that forbidden, but so desirable products from behind the hillock leak onto the shelves of online stores and city markets. The people called such shopping tours "trips for kilograms." In essence, this is smuggling - but under a completely legal cover.

"On the border they can shake"

Why do we need such manipulations with the search for fellow travelers? Everything is simple. According to existing rules, it is allowed to import goods from Finland from Finland once weighing no more than 50 kg and costing no more than 1,500 euros per person. Too little for businessmen implementing sanctions in Russia. Exceeding the norm is paid by customs duties, which negates the benefit.

But if you fill a minibus with a couple of dozen fellow travelers, you can write goods on them for free and take out dozens of times more. The main thing is that none of the passengers split, that the purchases actually have nothing to do with it.

In return for this innocent lie, a fellow traveler is allowed to purchase 5-8 kg of goods really for personal use. It turns out mutually beneficial cooperation.

And many do not need shopping at all - they go to “roll back” a visa. (Residents of St. Petersburg have "preferential" conditions for obtaining Schengen through the Embassy of Finland, but for this they must enter Suomi no fewer times than in other countries. - Approx. Aut.)

Today, this method of express travel is in great demand among Russians. “Trips for kilograms” are very popular among women whose husbands are not able to take the family to a Finnish supermarket on weekdays. And it’s really better to go on weekdays, because on weekends a huge line of cars line up at the border. You can get stuck in it for 3-5 hours. It is rare that the head of the family wants to spend his well-deserved weekend in this way for the sake of a couple of shops.

The organizers, in turn, promise that the idea is absolutely safe for customers: "Whoever does not violate anything, there is nothing to be afraid of." Customer reviews confirm this.

It is safe, and if something is not clear, they will explain everything to you, - says Svetlana, one of the fellow travelers of the “trip for kilograms”. - The only thing, I was scared, because there was a girl behind the wheel. She drives so fast that it's scary because of the speed. But they have different drivers, you can choose a man. We went to Finland with a friend, I bought everything I wanted. We were dropped off at the store, then picked up.

Companies with extensive experience can even afford to pick up each passenger from home, and at the end deliver them to their addresses. Before the start of the trip, the driver conducts a detailed briefing.

Firstly, it indicates the weight that a fellow traveler can buy for himself - as a rule, this is 5 kg. Secondly, he tells in detail how to behave with border guards. If the goal of carriers is to transport a minibus full of goods across the border, then the main task of customs officers is to knock out from passengers a recognition that the purchases are foreign. They can use various psychological tricks, scare them with detention and fines. However, if you stubbornly insist that you bought 50 kg of food for yourself, your mother-in-law, your cousin's family, etc., then there will simply be nothing to show them. Moreover, you don’t have to carry other people’s bags - the purchases remain on the bus, but the checks for them are recorded in the names of travelers.

If buyers purchase only food and household chemicals, then their passengers are unlikely to be shaken at customs - not the volume, - explains one of the experienced drivers who transports to Finland. - It's a completely different matter if we carry car tires - this is also a very popular business. This is where long delays can occur.

The fact is that people who distill tires for sale in Russia have become commonplace at the border. When you ride three or four times a week, you are already recognized by sight. And if there are no questions with the products, then it is clear to everyone that you are selling. It is almost impossible to prove this, and customs officers understand this. But this does not prevent them from once again shocking our fellow travelers, forcing them to write explanatory notes - maybe someone will split.

That is why experienced resellers, luring people to free trips, emphasize that it will not be tires that will be transported. And this is a significant advantage over competitors.

“Russian shopping looks like people came from a hungry land”

Lovers of shop tours trodden paths to shops in border towns many years ago. There are four main supermarkets where Russians are taken for purchases.

When entering Finland, the first thing you will encounter is the inexpensive shops Laplandia, Raja market and Disas Fish. In principle, they are enough to fill the refrigerator with products popular with tourists. Everything here is done to make Russians feel at home: payment is accepted in euros, rubles and dollars, you can see announcements and descriptions of the composition in Russian. The Russian poster printed on the toilet in the toilet is especially funny: “Do not get up on the toilet with your feet! Life threatening!!!" Almost all sellers speak Russian - the management specially hires immigrants from Russia.

On the Internet, you can even find guides to departments with prices and a detailed description of the taste of a particular product. Seven days a week, store parking lots are full of buses and cars with Russian numbers.

People come out of the trading floors with carts filled to overflowing with provisions. Some stores are like huge warehouses: employees do not even take the time to sort out the goods one by one. They know that tourists from Russia buy whole packs. From the outside, this leaves an ambiguous impression: the shopping of Russians looks like people came from a hungry region. Literally everything is swept off the shelves.

Shops are a separate show, and our people in this case are a sad sight, - the guide Ekaterina Zinovieva recalls her experience of “traveling for kilograms”. - It all starts with duty free at the entrance to Finland. The car fills with a terrible smell of alcohol. My fellow travelers, strangers among themselves, bought alcohol and now pour it into yogurt jars and thermoses. I'm just in shock!

They explain to me about the restriction on the import of alcohol. Therefore, it is required to disguise it, and they will immediately throw out the bottles. Part of the spill is hidden in clothes, in bras, in belts ...

Ekaterina described her impressions of a free shopping tour to the Finnish city of Imatra in her book “18+ Wanderings”:

“I don’t know why grocery shopping in St. Petersburg doesn’t look like people came from a hungry region, where there is only seaweed in stores. But in Finca, everything looks exactly like this: people came from a country where rusty nails and seaweed are on the shelves, and there are queues for all this. Disgusting. Shame on yours. It's embarrassing to watch them.

Of course, we have such an attitude. What else can Finns think of us when they see strange food scenes in the parking lots of their supermarkets every day?

On a bench in the park, the author found an inscription: "Russians, go home." Which, of course, is rather strange. It can be assumed that hundreds of cars with Russian numbers in store parking lots really create local inconvenience. But at the same time, citizens of the Russian Federation leave such huge amounts in stores that go to the state budget that it is a sin for the Finns to complain.

We asked residents of border towns: what do they think about the invasion of their closest neighbors?

I personally don't care if the Russians come or not, says Maria from Lappeenranta. - The main thing is that there are no brawls on the streets. Everything is quiet and calm. I think the Finnish infrastructure is only better if people come to spend money.

There were also those who took this purely positive.

I like that Russians come to us, to Imatra, for shopping, - says mechanical engineer Raimo. - By the way, many of them not only go shopping, but also rent our cottages for recreation or stay at spa centers for the weekend. I myself go to Russia almost every week and buy fuel for the car, it is much cheaper here.

Yes, yes, the Finns themselves also arrange shopping tours to Russia, for example, to Vyborg. True, they have not yet thought of “trips for kilograms”.

Most of the outings are related to car maintenance. Buying spare parts, tire fitting, changing oil, washing and painting a car in our country cost guests much cheaper than in their homeland.

Finns also buy Russian alcohol and cigarettes. Despite the fact that in recent years the prices for tobacco products have increased several times in our country, they still cost significantly less than in Finland.

Finnish women arrange beauty tours for themselves: in Russian beauty salons, the prices for haircuts, styling and manicure-pedicure are very tiny. And the quality, judging by the reviews, is higher, even in economy salons.

“Finnish cheese, sniffing, even cats asked”

And what do our compatriots bring from Finland to Russia?

In the first place, of course, are cheeses, which delight both in price and taste. For example, a kilogram of maasdam in supermarkets costs about 7 euros - 420 rubles. We read reviews:

“I don’t want to go to the store after him for ours at all. The difference is huge. I don't know how to describe the taste, but it's amazing! Cheese, sniffing, even cats asked us, although usually they are completely indifferent to cheeses.

“The taste is slightly sweet, slightly salty, leaves a pleasant creamy aftertaste in the mouth... I want to savor and savor... I love maasdam very much.”

“We have lost blue cheese forever... but there is, and excellent!”

In second place are meat and fish products: ham, sausages, sausages, etc. For a pack of delicious sausages weighing 400 g, you will have to pay only 1.5 euros.

Supermarket "Disas fish" is called nothing less than a fish paradise and a favorite store of Russian tourists. From there they bring a variety of inhabitants of the seas and oceans: salted, raw, smoked in various ways, with and without spices. From the variety of caviar, eyes run up.

“I have never eaten such delicious fish! And why didn’t the Russians learn how to salt and smoke fish like that?” - tourists rhetorically ask. Even fish sticks are brought from here, which in Russia are best avoided due to their composition: “Fish sticks cost 1.75 euros for 700 g in a pack - and at the same time there is really a piece of fish, not ground porridge.”

Sweets are bought by trolleys - the assortment of chocolate is amazing with the number of various fillings. Do not bypass the racks with tea and coffee. Sometimes products are swept away at such a speed that merchandisers do not have time to replenish stocks - and the next batch of visitors is met by empty shelves.

Counters with vitamins are always of great interest: there are a lot of them and at meager prices.

Russians buy from their northern neighbors not only sanctioned goods, but also goods that are quite affordable in our country. The fact is that the products of the same company in Russia and Finland can differ significantly in quality. For example, detergents are taken out of supermarkets in packages.

If you believe the reviews, the Finnish version of dishwashing detergent is fundamentally different from ours in terms of density and economy of use: “It foams twice as much! And one bottle is enough for 4 months, and you don’t have to “pour” it, like our domestic one.”

Liquid washing powders are in great demand - for 150 rubles you get excellent quality and a pleasant smell of laundry after washing.

Also, fellow citizens go to supermarkets in the hope of catching luck by the tail. In Russia, the gambling business is illegal, and in Finland, slot machines in stores are a common thing. So Russian grandparents are trying to win an increase in their pensions.

By the way, in Finland itself, gambling, especially among pensioners, has become a serious problem. Elderly Finns are very susceptible to this misfortune and can disappear for days at the machines in the hope of hitting the jackpot. And they also buy lottery tickets at kiosks, and give large sums for them. At the same time, the difference between the Finnish slot machine system and the Russian one is that it was created to raise funds for social organizations. And to this day, the income from them goes to charity.

But soft drinks in Finnish supermarkets are expensive. However, the price can be reduced by using can and bottle collectors located at the front door. The collected material is sent for recycling. The unit functions very simply: you put a container in it, in return you get a check equivalent to about 20 cents. It can either be cashed at the checkout or used as payment for a purchase.

Nuance - the device accepts only Finnish packaging, and it determines the belonging to the country by the barcode. From time to time, guests try to push bottles of Russian origin inside and each time they fail. Failure is discouraging: is it a pity, or something, as if the nature of the nearest neighbors does not need to be preserved?

Regular customers believe that the Finns simply cannot cope with the volumes if they allow the Russians to hand over their dishes. “Knowing our tourists, and especially those who travel to Finland for purchases on a wholesale scale, people will go with trunks full of these bottles ... Apparently, the Finns are not ready to fight for our ecology either.”

"Jerboas and Helpers"

Many fellow travelers "for kilograms" admit that "cheese-soap" trips are very exhausting. Judge for yourself: you have a limit on the weight of purchases and the time spent in the store, drivers are often reckless in order to have time to turn back and forth as soon as possible, you can get stuck at the border for a long time if your company arouses suspicion ... But nothing like that can not happen - and the trip will be comfortable and useful.

Tourists from Russia who go on shopping tours often think that the organizers are almost doing them a favor by allocating space in the car. “Take the two of us for free. I would be grateful for the kindness shown! - such comments can be seen on thematic sites.

Meanwhile, for many years there has been a certain category of people who earn good money on the service of a fellow traveler. They are called "jerboas" or "helpers", and they live in the vicinity of our Russian Vyborg, from which it is a stone's throw to the border.

This story has nothing to do with products. The services of "jerboas" are used by entrepreneurs who export used household appliances from Finland for spare parts and sale, which the Finns sell for a penny, or even throw them in the trash. At the border, they still face the same problem: the weight limit. But if a conditional brother and wife are also sitting in the car, claiming that they are taking a refrigerator and a stove to their dacha, then you won’t have to pay extra for the excess.

“Helpers” do not hide from the authorities: in the local newspapers in the free classifieds section, you can find dozens of offers that are called “Passenger to Finland”.

We can say that this is a new profession, the income from which is the main income for a person. In large numbers, “jerboas” are found on the highway leading to Finland: they stand with a sign on which “I have a visa” is written with a marker.

It is clear that most often low-income people are engaged in this. A lot of people work according to the traditional schedule for our country with two days off a week. For each trip, the passenger is paid from 700 to 1000 rubles. On average, you can earn 15-20 thousand rubles per month - just for keeping the driver company on the road. And if services are provided by spouses (which is indeed practiced), then family earnings double.

Market researchers believe that free shopping tours will eventually come to naught. Today, the volume of this business is such that in large cities through the Internet you can easily buy prohibited products with a minimum margin. Perhaps in the future, people will become too lazy to spend a day on a trip and they will prefer to pay a little more, but get the goods delivered to their homes.

However, today the demand for “trips for kilograms” is huge. And even though the savings from the price of a ticket come out to a maximum of 1.5 thousand rubles, the Russians are happy to spend this saved money on cheeses, sweets and other “fruits” forbidden to us.

Shopping in Finland can be not only an interesting adventure, but also a profitable activity, if you properly organize it. Any buyer in Finnish stores is always waiting for goods of truly European quality, moreover, they are regularly sold at significant discounts. You can also save money during sales. For many residents of Russia, shopping in a neighboring country is no longer exotic, but for some it is the first acquaintance with foreign purchases.

What to buy

Many Russians who regularly go shopping to Finland from St. Petersburg and the region are sure that even the washing powder bought there is of better quality than what is sold in the Russian Federation, not to mention Finnish fish, coffee, shoes, children's goods and down jackets. It should be said right away that the border between Russia and Finland can be crossed both as part of tourist groups and by personal transport, but its crossing on foot is prohibited.

Sweaters, sweatshirts, T-shirts and overalls for babies made from natural materials are sold inexpensively in Finland. Similar in fabric composition and quality, clothing for teenagers and adults is also relatively inexpensive, as are excellent leather shoes.

The purchase of household appliances is also very profitable in Finland, because after updating the line, the prices for previously released models are quickly and noticeably reduced by stores.

It should be noted that the majority of people who have chosen shopping in Finland show the least interest in fashionable clothes, with the possible exception of Finnish down jackets and coats, since Finland is not a trendsetter in world fashion, and the local range of fashionistas is rated as "gray", boring, uninteresting for young people and especially fashionable representatives of the middle class. But here you can always find high-quality manufactured goods of well-known European brands at prices 30-50% lower than in Russia.

Everything for manual dishwashing and toothpastes, shampoos and conditioners are very popular with Russian buyers. Grocery shopping is no less popular: fish and caviar, tea and coffee, olive oil, chocolate and Finnish sweets - all this is much cheaper here.

Many Russians bring household appliances, interior items and furniture from Finland. In addition to the indisputable quality of all the goods listed above, buyers from Russian cities receive an average benefit of 10-20% compared to home prices.

For Russian consumers, the Finns even create a number of special conditions, for example, in the Lappeenranta fish shop, sellers not only butcher a raw salmon or trout carcass, but also remove all the bones, and salt and sprinkle the fillets with spices, thus making fresh fish lightly salted, suitable for "traveling". "to Russia - according to customs rules, the transport of raw fish and meat across the border is prohibited.

Benefits of shopping in Finland

Those who have never gone shopping in Finland may doubt that it is interesting, profitable and pleasant, given the fact that the climate of this country is so similar to Russia, which means that shopping trips may not be so comfortable, as in the countries of the Eurozone with a warmer climate. However, all doubts can be dispelled by a complete set of compelling arguments for shopping in Finland:

• short duration of the tour;
• consistently high quality of all Finnish-made store goods;
• affordability, frequent and impressive discounts and benefits from purchases compared to home goods;
• constant updating of the range of goods, for example, the emergence of new models of household appliances;
• the opportunity to purchase branded items at very competitive prices.

The most important advantage, of course, is the pricing policy of Finnish stores. Quite favorable for Russians (in comparison with analogues in their city) prices are also noticeably reduced during sales. The price of individual quality products can drop by up to 70% of the original cost. Such seasonal sales are winter and summer, which allows you to go shopping with the whole family during the summer holidays or winter holidays. But you can also choose weekends if your goal is a little shopping in Finland.

Reviews and general information cannot, however, fully reveal all the benefits of shopping in this country. It is best to know the favorite places of experienced shopaholics already at the stage of planning a shopping tour and mark the necessary points on the map. The names of the stores where those who have repeatedly practiced shopping in Finland will also come in handy.

Where to go shopping? Helsinki

Most often, tourists arriving in this city by bus immediately get to the Kampii shopping center, since the store is combined with the bus station. In this shopping center you can buy household goods and household chemicals, children's products and much more from the usual assortment of shopping.

If the choice was made in favor of air travel, then you can immediately start shopping at the Jumbo shopping center, located in close proximity to the Helsinki airport. On the territory of the shopping center there are 100 stores selling food, home textiles, clothes, shoes and other things that are produced in Finland.

Shopping in Helsinki involves visiting many other stores with a variety of goods, but the above outlets may be of interest to those who are in a hurry or are not yet familiar with a foreign country and only want to buy a certain set of goods without fear of getting lost or missing their return flight.

Lappeenranta

The city of Lappeenranta is the closest to the border of the Russian Federation, and there are a very large number of supermarkets, shopping centers and other shops of various sizes and specializations. Because the Russians usually visit it at the end of the trip.

Are you interested in shopping in Finland? Where you should go is one of the most important city stores - the Armada shopping center, famous for its selection of clothes and goods for animals. Tourists have also chosen a truly huge Family Center, where you can walk for hours, if you wish, leaving children under supervision in a specially equipped corner of the store, where they will have fun while their parents are shopping. An additional plus for shoppers is the factor that there are many other smaller stores next to the shopping giant.

Russian motorists have long liked RajaMarket - a shopping center where you can buy auto parts, other manufactured goods, and food.

Turku

This city is most often chosen by those who come to Finland for food, since the famous Market Square functions in this place, where almost all farmers sell their crops, and artisans offer handicrafts and souvenirs. Nearby you can find a large number of shops, which is very convenient for guests of the city.

For example, Hansa is the largest shopping complex in Turku, selling textile products, high-quality shoes, fur products, and jewelry.

Approximately 90 individual outlets offering a variety of goods at attractive prices can be found within the walls of Skanssi, a shopping center located in the eastern part of Turku.

Kotka

This is a settlement near the Finnish-Russian border. There is a Pasaati store here, which is no coincidence chosen by Russian fashionistas - they sell quite interesting fashionable clothes here.

Shops are adjacent to hairdressing salons, where you can get a haircut or dye your hair in between shopping.

For those who are interested in goods, the direct road to Euromarket is one of the most famous budget stores, boldly visited even by people with very modest financial capabilities. And for household chemicals, it's best to look at Robinhood.

Tampere

The city is famous for one of the longest streets (exactly 1100 meters), and a wide variety of retail outlets has concentrated along its entire length - from simple department stores to luxury boutiques.

Being here, one cannot ignore the LIDL chain of shopping centers, which sell many product groups: from food to cosmetics and household appliances of the lower price segment.

The central square on Mondays is nothing more than a large market. On other days of the week, you can walk through several nearby shopping areas that look like a large market.

Lahti

Lahti is located at the crossroads of trade and transport flows, so trade flourishes here.

Students are always attracted by Jack & Jones - a store offering a huge range of good quality youth clothing. Those who like to sew their own clothes should definitely visit Eurokangas to select fabrics. Here you can also buy ready-made curtains and home textiles.

Lahti's main store is Trio shopping center, where you can find clothes, shoes, cosmetics, children's toys and much more. It is easier to say what is not here than to list the entire range of goods offered, it is no coincidence that this shopping center is included in the list of the best outlets.

Finland. Shopping. Sales

Sales in Finland are common and regular. Currently, due to the general economic crisis, they began to be announced earlier and finished later. Such actions mark the onset of the new season. For example, they sell bicycles at the end of autumn or skis before the start of summer. Such events are arranged even in connection with the relocation or renovation of the store premises. But the most interesting discounts are in Finland during the traditional big sales: June 21, right after Juhannus by the beginning of the holiday season and the decrease in consumer demand in connection with this. Very intense shopping in Finland in January, as there are always sales after December 25), and large mass spending on gifts and celebrations.

Shopping centers regularly arrange special events when promotions are announced simultaneously in all stores located on the territory of this center.

In addition, all Finnish hypermarkets and department stores periodically have sales days. The most famous among such actions are called "Crazy Days" in the famous "Stockmann" and "3 + 1" in "Sokos".

Armed with this knowledge, you can safely shop in Finland at almost any time of the year - the trip will surely become pleasant and profitable not only for shopping lovers, but also for Russians of all ages who want to save their money without skimping on quality.

You can bring traditional souvenirs with you. They differ in Finland in design and great variety. Also in the markets and shops a lot of high-quality clothes, bags, hats are sold. Shoes are also presented in a wide variety, there are large sizes that are sometimes difficult to find in other countries.

When choosing a gift, a souvenir or just a purchase that you can bring home, you need to start from interests. Many people buy high-quality alcohol, someone buys leather clothes, vitamins, dried fruits.

Souvenirs

What to bring from Finland as souvenirs? There are many handicrafts made from real deerskin here. You can also buy a knife with a wooden handle.

The average price of a branded knife is 100 euros. Producers – Marttiini, Roselli, Kainuun .

Cooks' wooden mug is also a great souvenir. You can drink from it. It is inexpensive, usually made by hand, decorated with various beautiful accessories.

Present

What to bring as a gift from Finland? Unusual decor is a great option. There are themed shops with decorative elements in the style of modernism and functionalism. For example, a candlestick, plates, dishes in general. Pots with an unusual shape, cutlery are offered.

You can buy a blanket as a gift. Here, these products are incredibly warm and pleasant to the touch. The decor is completely different.

Moomin trolls are extremely popular characters from Tove Jansson, the author of a series of books. They are depicted on toys, cups, and other objects. Moomin trolls are close to the national culture.

Again, you can buy a designer item as a gift. For example, it will be an accessory for a mobile phone, a unique high-quality case designed in an unusual style. The Marimekko brand offers cases for tablets, laptops, bags, mirrors in a compact case and much more.

Products

sausages

You can buy homemade sausage. It is difficult to say that there are bad and good companies - all are reliable and conscientious. The manufacturer Kotivara is especially distinguished - it produces a wide variety of products, and the products are presented in almost every butcher's shop.

Often Russians bring Venalainen sausage (translated as Russian). On the other hand, if you want to take something completely unusual, it is better to stop at any horse meat product. They are of the highest quality here.

Sweets in Finland perishable, but this only emphasizes their high quality. Fazer, Kultasuklaa are well-known brands that produce chocolate.

Cloudberry jam is also an interesting sweet that you can take with you. It is sold mainly in glass jars, it is transported across the border without problems.

Licorice is a sweet that is rightfully considered the most respected in Finland. Liquorice looks like dark figures, sometimes colored. They are packed in partially transparent bags. A distinctive feature of licorice is that it is made using herbs, it contains vitamins and trace elements. So the Finns strengthen the immune system and fight cough.

Don't confuse licorice with salmiakki. The latter are a cheap alternative for $1-$3. They are produced artificially by their substitutes and are not useful, which means that such sweets can be bought at any store.

The most famous and delicious chocolate is FAZER.

vitamins

Vitamins in Finland are especially popular. Many tourists buy them here. For example, the Ladyvita brand is in great demand among the domestic contingent. And there are not only women's complexes, starting from the name, but also children's. Vitamins for pregnant women are sold separately, for women over the age of 50.

For children, it is also worth buying vitamins Sana-Sol (syrup form) or Multitabs D-tipat (oil base).

Household chemicals and cosmetics

It is believed that in Finland there are better household chemicals and cosmetics. Moreover, the packaging may be the same, but the quality is different. For example, Fairy, Tide and other brands we know sell their products in Finland.

Cloth

Bring clothes from Finland is very profitable. In this country, sales are often found, but only in stores. On the market, you can stumble upon a fake, and not the cheapest.

If your goal is to save as much as possible, look for sales with 70% off.

TAX FREE stickers are placed on store windows, but not everywhere. This means that the store has a program for issuing a value-added tax refund document for a tourist who will cross the Finnish border on the way back. This document is submitted to the customs service. As a result, the tourist gets the opportunity to return part of the money for the purchase, which makes it even cheaper.

By the way, the Tax Free system applies not only to clothing stores, but also to other outlets selling various goods.

Especially popular in Finland is the Marimekko brand. Products are sold in large shopping centers such as Stockmann, Kamppi.

If you want to buy something unusual, which is definitely not available in your homeland, check out the design district of Helsinki. True, there are such different ones in different cities of Finland.

Coffee

Many companies that operate in the country sell products all over the world. For example, the brands Pauling, Kulta Katriina. There is practically no soluble, the Finns brew coffee in a Turk or a coffee maker.

Alcohol

Alcohol is not very different from ours, domestic. You can buy good Finlandia vodka, Minttu or Lapponia liqueur, Kotikalja beer.

There is another type of vodka that is quite difficult to find, and the price is not the lowest. Koskenkerva is its name.

Important! If you plan to buy alcohol, it must be done before 21:00 local time.

Possible restrictions on export from Finland and restrictions on import to Russia

There is a restriction on the import of meat, fish and dairy products. They must be vacuum packed. True, many tourists manage to bring home some fish in a bag, something dairy, if it is not striking and one can say that it is taken for themselves at the moment. In general, here you are lucky, but there is a limitation.

There is a restriction on the export of products of animal origin, and they must be packaged accordingly. These are canned food, butter, sausage, fish. The fish must be processed (cooked). The restriction covers milk and everything that is produced with its use, any seafood.

For every person who leaves Finland, there must be no more than five kilograms of animal products. Animal feed can also be transported at the rate of not more than 5 kilograms per passenger. Such products are taken in hand luggage.

In Russia, there is a restriction on the import of alcoholic beverages. If citizens are over 17 years old, they can take no more than three liters of alcoholic beverages with them.

Cigarettes are also restricted for import. There should be a maximum of 200 of them for each person over 17 years old (50 cigars, respectively). For tobacco, the restriction is as follows - 250 grams per person, respectively, over 18 years old. If a citizen is under this age, he is not allowed to transfer anything at all from alcoholic or tobacco products.

Attention! Remember that you can import up to 50 kilograms of goods into the Russian Federation duty-free. Further, there is a duty of 4 euros for each kilogram.

The total value of all exported goods must not exceed 1,500 euros. Therefore, it is better to keep receipts to prevent misunderstandings.

Berries, fruits and vegetables can be taken out of Finland if their weight does not exceed 3 kg.

What cannot be exported

Export of raw meat and fish is prohibited. Plants in pots are also not exported. In some cases, there must be an export permit (for example, you bought a potted flower in a company store, where documents will be provided for it).

Many do not even realize that you can visit Finland absolutely free of charge. It turns out that everything is very simple, the inhabitants of St. Petersburg have long been accustomed to going to Finnish border supermarkets for cheese, chocolate and just taking a walk ...

One-day shopping tours to border towns cost from a thousand rubles. In St. Petersburg, every second person already has a Finnish Schengen. People from St. Petersburg usually travel along it to supermarkets in the Finnish border towns of Lappeenranta and Imatra, they go for cheese, fish, chocolate and even toilet paper. Something can be imported into Russia with restrictions, something is completely impossible, but every day hundreds and thousands of residents of St. Petersburg carry tons of kilograms of sanctions to their New Year's table. Several large supermarkets are literally five minutes from the borders, almost in the forest. But the line at the checkout in these supermarkets is inevitable, hundreds of cars and buses with Russian numbers fill the huge parking lots.
One-day shopping tours to Finland from St. Petersburg start every day, such a trip will cost about a thousand rubles, the start and finish of the tour at seven or eight in the morning near some metro station.

The catch lies in the rules for importing goods into the territory of the Russian Federation. One person from the territory of the European Union can import 50 kilograms of goods (special restrictions on products). And dealers of goods ride on such "free" minibuses, the scheme is simple and primitive: they buy cheaper there, sell more expensive here. And they buy in Finland not one, not two, and not even a hundred kilograms of goods at a time. Once in a minibus with a driver, you can hear something like this:

Today we are transporting tires and suitcases. Everything is legal, but you will need to tell the customs officers that the tires and suitcases are yours, we will decide who is carrying what on the spot, depending on how much we buy, someone may not get anything at all. You can take five kilograms of any goods. If someone, for moral or some other reasons, is not ready to say this, then it is better not to go, otherwise there is a chance to get stuck at the border all night.

A small monologue-story-warning of the driver is over, all the passengers are ready to lie to the customs officers and the minibus sets off. You can get to Finland through two border points, it takes a couple of hours to get to both of them, crossing the border from 15 minutes on weekdays to several hours on weekends and New Year's Eve days. A clear advantage over the "official" shopping tours is that it's not a huge bus that drives you and the driver can make stops "on demand" at any store along the way, and indeed anywhere he can make stops not according to the program.

It’s morning in the yard, and there is a stir in the stores, price tags in Russian, Russian-speaking sellers and hundreds of Russian lovers of sanctions :)

Many shops are just like a big warehouse. Tourists from Russia buy packages

Why else do people go to Finland? Good luck!
In Russia, slot machines are prohibited, but not there, St. Petersburg grandmothers and not only try to win the jackpot in order to spend it on kilograms of Finnish cheese!

Let's get back to our tires. Before the border, the driver distributes goods to passengers (someone really doesn’t get anything) and instructs:

The main task of the customs officer is to make you admit that the tires are not yours, they most likely won’t find fault with the suitcases, the tires are heavier and they will be interested in them. They will scare you with arrests and fines just to get you to confess! If you keep repeating only that you are taking the tires for yourself or for your children/parents, then they won’t be able to show you anything and they will calmly let us into Russia!

Tells the driver and cases from practice:

Yesterday we got caught by such customs officers, they questioned each of them for almost several hours, one girl wrote them an explanation that the tires were mine ... As a result, I had to hang around there for several hours and then let them through for only two thousand ... Or they could even return to Finland , and the store is already closed there, everyone would have to spend the night there together.

On this trip, the customs officer only asked the "owners" of the tires to whom and why they were being transported (everyone was transported to children and parents), weighed the sets, they came out 43 kilograms each, that is, they easily fit into 50. Passengers without tires were not even asked about anything. In a couple of hours everyone was in St. Petersburg.

Photo of a car with free travel to Finland at Russian customs. Are you ready to go shopping in Europe?