Linas Jegelevičius for the BNN
For many Lithuanians dwelling in proximity of the 104-kilometre Lithuanian-Polish border, trips over it for cheaper food, alcohol and other items have become a tedious routine. Some Lithuanians set out for the journey on their own by cars, while some others get on buses booked specifically for the purpose.
«Our eldership is near the border, but it is pretty small, so most travel over it for cheaper goods on their own, by cars,» Zenonas Sabaliauskas, the elder of Veisiejai eldership in the municipality of Lazdijai in southern Lithuania, told BNN. «Recently, with the VAT to Polish groceries slashed to zero, such trips are made more often.»
According to Statistics Lithuania, the country’s chief statistical bureau, over the first three quarters last year, in all, 53 thousand Lithuanians went for shopping over the border and spent nearly 20 million euros there, a three percent drop from the respective period in 2020.
As much as 28 million euros over entire 2020 were spent by Lithuanian shoppers in the neighbouring country, mostly in grocery chains «Biedronka» and «Kaufland».
Statistics Lithuania says that, in terms of spending, it was year of 2015, the first year since the introduction of the euro, when Lithuanian shoppers spent a record sum in Poland – roughly 82 million euros.
However, the Poles provide impressively higher figures on Lithuanians’ shopping in their country.
According to Central Statistical Office of Poland, Lithuanians spent over 360 million euros in 2018 in Poland, mostly on cheaper food and alcohol.
Reportedly, there is also an increasing number of small grocery stores on the Polish side of the border, selling Lithuanian products – and according to Pricer.lt director Arūnas Vizickas – they are cheaper than in Lithuania.
Lithuanian statisticians do not have respective shopping data for the last quarter of 2021 and the beginning of the year yet.
Sabaliauskas, the Veisiejai elder, insists that, so far, there is no «massive obsession» with shopping in Poland.
«In fact, for some time, our people had stopped going (for cheaper goods) there – the prices had been quite similar, more or less. But the trend is definitely coming back. As I said, on the individual level,» he maintained to BNN.
Some of the villagers, he says, buy not only food and alcohol over the border, but also get their car fuel tanks filled with cheaper Polish diesel or gas.
«Otherwise, the trips would perhaps be loss-making – the expenses for the gas bought in Lithuania wouldn’t outweigh what the shoppers save from relatively cheaper food and other goods there. Bear in mind that, depending on where the people start their journey, it can last an hour or even longer. Besides, some of the Polish roads that Lithuanians use are poor, meaning that more gas will be burnt on the roads,» Sabaliauskas said.
He says the distance from Veisiejai to Seinai, a little Polish town, is roughly 25 kilometres – if the driver uses the countryside roads. And it can stretch up to roughly 40 kilometres if one chooses the asphalt-laid road via Lazdijai, the centre of the municipality.
The elder notices that some villagers tend to buy items that use rarely in their households.
«I ask them bluntly: how often do you use them? Every day or once in the blue moon? After I accost them like this, many admit that they tend to give in to the other Lithuanians’ shopping frenzy over the border. Should they add up everything, the cheapness would be very questionable,» Sabaliauskas said.
He said that some inhabitants of Veisiejai eldership frown at their compatriots going for groceries over the border and scold them for being «unpatriotic».
«The argument they have is simple: as we live in Lithuania, we should be supporting our economy, not theirs,» the elder grinned.
Meanwhile, Sigitas Besagirskas, president of Vilnius Industry and Business Association (VIBA), says that, despite a rise in prices in Lithuania, he does not believe that the flows of Lithuanians going for groceries and gas over the border will increase tangibly.
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«I’ve just come back from an exhibition in Poznan, which is not a border town. The Poles I spoke to did not sound very happy about the slashes to the VAT. In fact, they insisted that the prices edged upwards significantly before the VAT was cut. Many believe that the stores will use it as a chance to hike their prices. This sounds very logic to me,» Besagirskas told BNN.
He says that Poland may have deliberately been positioning itself as a cheap country, especially to Lithuanians.
«Indeed, it is cheaper than many other EU member states, But considering the travelling costs and all the inconveniences one has along the trip, I doubt if such shopping trips (by many Lithuanians) are worthwhile,» the analyst said.
But some Lithuanians tout Poland for what it does for its citizens to cushion the hikes of energy prices and, thence, the prices of goods and services.
«I wish our Lithuanian government acted like this,» an inhabitant of Alytus, a town in southern Lithuania, told BNN.
As reported, Poland’s government has declared earlier this year VAT cuts on food and gas as part of its anti-inflation shield – on petrol and diesel to 8 percent, and the VAT on food, gas and fertilisers to 0 percent. The base VAT rate in Poland is 23 percent, while food is typically taxed at a lower 5 percent rate.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said the temporary rate reduction will be in force for six months starting from February.
Some experts, however, argue, that the cuts are like a painkiller rather than a permanent cure for inflation. They claim the cuts temporarily ease the negative impact of high inflationary pressure, but do not reduce price growth over the long term, they maintain.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also recommends more focused and targeted actions, such as aid for households that are pushed into poverty, rather than to all consumers.
BNN ANALYSES: High prices-weary Lithuanians flock to Poland for cheaper goods
