Apparently, the early years of thee recession may have been good for prostitutes because the middle-management office and bank workers, who make up the main market for prostitutes, were working harder and just didn’t have the energy for dating. So prostitution made an easy and less-taxing substitute.

But now that prices are rising, the sex trade is suffering as consumers don’t have excess money for luxury goods. So, “the wife has become more in-demand”. Meaning that the market wasn’t able to sustain price rises in “street trade for bodies” matching inflation in other areas in the “wholesale” trade, although the market for elite customers hasn’t suffered as much. So street walkers are working less as they can’t make a profit.

Or they are expanding into other areas including more exotic services like toys, massage, bondage, striptease or working in pairs. However, “live-in wives” or “maids with benefits” is not a service that is taking off. Customers demand it for no more than one day at a time.

Prostitutes charge around $100 an hour or $300 for a night (in a country where the average income is around $450 a month). However, the author points out, each prostitute sets an individual price based on her desirability.

And while there are known saunas or massage parlors that offer extra services (either running their own brothels or sub-contracting out to freelance workers), street walking and placing thinly disguised classified ads in the papers seems to be the norm.

I’d be curious who Mr. Blogger is and how he knows so much about this sector of the economy. I know that police have gone after sex slaves and pimps who use underage prostitutes, but is prostitution criminalized in Kazakhstan? And who bears the most burden of law enforcement: the client or the worker? One also wonders if there aren’t high class brothels and escort services for the elite that are kept well hidden?

Giving gifts when you go over to someone’s house is almost mandatory, no matter how close you are to the person. And one problem is that while you can just give flowers or chocolate or vodka to the hosts, it’s best if you have a gift for everyone who’s going to be there–especially for Women’s Day or Men’s Day or similar holidays. Meaning that if unexpected guests show up, you sometimes have to hope you have enough cash in your wallet to cover everyone!

Empire Souvenirs has definitely dominated the expensive gifts market in Kazakhstan, to the point where most people we know already have anything they might want (within reason–the gold and gem-studded chessboards are a bit out of our reach). I stumbled on this site which does Personal Creations keychains and other similar personalized gifts. Not sure if they would be able to get things to Kazakhstan in a timely manner, but it’s nice that you can type in the names you want. A lot of personalized items aren’t up on Kazakh names. Try finding an Aigul necklace or bracelet outside Kazakhstan!

In any case, if anyone has suggestions for inexpensive gifts that will still be appreciated by the recipient, please do share. Because now we’re already saving up for the first of May.

In preparation for the work of the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan), the largest number of adjustments of the tariffs will have to be made by Kazakhstan. Andrey Tochin, representative of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia to the Commission on the Customs Union, reported this to a correspondent of Rosbalt.

“Regading Kazakhstan, they will have to change half of their tariffs. 40% of these adjustments will mean an increase in prices”, noted Tochin. In his opinion, this is the way to create preferential conditions for Russian goods in Kazakhstan.

According to Tochin, 80% of the unified customs tariffs which were approved on 27 November by the heads of state [of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus] in Minsk are in agreement with Russian policy. Therefore, Russia will not have to make large adjustments. “Only 10% of the current rates will be changed. Most of them will be decreased,” noted the official.

Belarus will also have to make minor adjustments in its tariffs. But a spokesman for the Ministry did not specify what will these changes.

So 1) Russia is announcing what Kazakhstan will do and 2) this is being reported in Russian newspapers but seems to get scant attention in the Kazakhstany press (as far as I can see, except for a vague statement by the Minister of the Economy that I wrote about here). And 3) Russian policy is being followed 80% of the time and 4) prices are going up again! Oh, and 5) Russian officials are stating baldly that these moves are good for Russian products, not good for all three nations.

It seems very strange that Kazakhstan and Belarus are entering a union the terms of which are being set by Moscow in order to benefit Russia. Now I’m not an economist, but I am not looking forward to the market being flooded with Russian goods and imported goods becoming more expensive. I need my macaroni and cheese and my books in English, people!

In all seriousness, as I glance around my home, most of the food and everyday household goods we buy was manufactured in Kazakhstan or Russia (including a lot of foreign brands). But most everything else came from somewhere else, from the furniture to the pens to the appliances. I’m not clear on how this will improve the quality of our life, and I’m not sure that Kazakhstani companies will benefit since it seems to me that people in Kazakhstan already buy a lot of goods that were made in Russia, so I don’t see that Russians will start buying Kazakhstan goods.

I’d love to hear in the comments what others think about this union, and if anyone has lived in Russia, are Kazakhstan-made goods bought there? Are our companies competitive?