Some savers are taking out every last rouble to invest in resalable goods, while import businesses have been hard hit

“It’s safest to keep all your money in roubles,” runs a joke currently doing the rounds in Russia. “After all, nobody is going to think to look for real money inside a bag made of roubles.”

As Russia’s currency continued its downward spiral on Tuesday, many Muscovites watching their savings shrivel vented their frustration with black humour. Others had another solution: go shopping.

At Yevropeisky shopping mall, prices were on the rise. Yekaterina, an employee at a home appliance store, was taking an inventory of prices, which she said had been changing each day. “Everything in here is European-made. You can figure the rest out yourself,” she said.

But the prices have not been rising as rapidly as the value of the rouble is falling. Moscow is suddenly one of the cheapest places in the world to buy Apple products, or many car models, meaning some people are taking out every last rouble to invest it in resalable goods.

Mikhail Obvalin, manager of a store selling photography equipment, said sales had risen in the past month. “Photography equipment is unique. It’s like a car, you can buy it and then sell it later, if it’s still new you can sell it as new,” he said. “We look at the prices every day, we keep up with the trend.”

Olya, an artist looking at earrings in a jewellery shop at Yevropeisky, said her family had changed their savings into euros two years ago. Nonetheless, the rouble crisis was “horrible”, she said. “We live in Russia, we get our wages in roubles. I think it’s because the west is trying to hurt Russia. But we Russians will never be defeated.”

There was a sense of stoicism and very little in the way of panic, even as the rouble fell to yet another low. “They have just erected a Christmas tree and loudspeakers outside my building,” said a Moscow-based western banker. “It’s so surreal: I can hear this happy upbeat music and new year songs while I’m assessing the damage at my desk. It’s going to take more than upbeat Christmas songs to bring the feelgood factor back.”

The banker said he had personally lost money after investing in shares in the Russian lender Sberbank, which lost more than 18% of their value on Tuesday.

Those with more modest amounts of capital were also feeling the heat. At a Moscow branch of Sberbank, engineer Andrei Matrosov said he was considering buying a car, an apartment or financial securities. “You need to hold foreign currency, that’s what the analysts recommend,” Matrosov said. “It’s not understood where the bottom will be.”

Matrosov had wanted to take a trip to Europe for the new year, but instead he will be travelling to his home town in the Urals. He said the company where he worked, which services equipment for fuel and energy companies, was cutting 5% of its staff and began giving out two-month dismissal notices in November. “They said there wouldn’t be any pay raises this year, and judging by the forecast it’s not worth hoping for one next year either.”

Lyubov Stepennaya, who works at a publishing house, was rushing to change roubles into euros for an upcoming cruise in the Baltic Sea. “As I was walking to Sberbank to change my money the euro went up another 10 roubles,” she said. “A week ago I had enough to buy €200, now it’s only enough for €150.”

While the hope is that a weak rouble could stimulate local production, small business owners who work with imported goods have been particularly hard hit. After Russia banned the import of dairy products from the EU in August, Alexander Krupetskov, the owner of a cheese shop, began buying from Switzerland instead. On Tuesday when he tried to make a large purchase, his suppliers suspended sales due to the pricing turmoil.

“We need to understand what the new exchange rate will be and go off of that,” Krupetskov said. “No one will buy cheese that is so expensive, so I’ll have to look for Russian alternatives. I haven’t been able to find them so far, but I’ll have to double my efforts.”

Lyudmila Gorbachyova, a pensioner, said she didn’t have any savings to worry about, but complained that her 12,000-rouble monthly income was being stretched thinner and thinner, especially since she helped raise her four grandchildren.

“I’m looking around for what to buy my grandkids for new year, but everything is so expensive, prices are rising everywhere,” Gorbachyova said. “They say that after new year prices will go up another 10%. When we were growing up, we were poor but happy. Now there’s no happiness anywhere.”