The failure of the holiday season in Odessa is a premonition of a cold winter
An Odessa resident does not need to be an expert in economics, understand Marx’s “Capital” and even remember by heart all the needs of Maslow’s pyramid in order to understand the situation. The empty streets of Arcadia, Deribasovskaya, and Primorsky Boulevard are the best indicator that something is wrong in the city. We recently encountered a similar feeling while attending Timati’s concert in Ibiza, where we brought readers news about a song in support of Putin.
Yes, there are no food riots brewing in the city. But falling wages in dollar terms, rising tariffs, rising prices for food and gasoline - all this is felt and in the air. The premonition of collapse in winter does not leave me.
And the unprecedentedly dull landscapes of “Arcadia” - an entertainment town on the Black Sea coast, considered one of the best in Eastern Europe, clearly hint that not all is well with Mother Odessa.
The fact is that the main “client” of Odessa in the summer is a Russian tourist or a resident of the CIS countries. We went to Odessa, firstly, because there is no language barrier, secondly, it’s almost like our homeland, but not Russia, and thirdly, it’s relatively cheap (even in comparison with Bulgaria, Romania, Crimea). Fourthly, because you can not only sunbathe in the sun and have fun in clubs, but also admire the architecture, walk through shopping centers, and, ultimately, visit the famous “Privoz” and “Seventh Kilometer”.
I’ll say it as an Odessa resident with almost fifteen years of “experience”; before, seaside streets literally collapsed under the weight of cars with Russian license plates. This year I saw Russian license plates for the last time, probably in February.
Considering the image Odessa created for itself as a result of May 2, considering what is happening in the Donbass today, it is not difficult to guess that there is no reason to hope for a large flow of tourists.
What does it mean? This means that Odessa will continue to lose its almost forgotten flavor, which recently (even under Kostusev) it began to slowly but surely restore. Non-marine, non-entertaining Odessa is, of course, not Odessa. The city's image will suffer significantly.
Investors will stop investing in Odessa, big money will leave the city. Long-term entertainment projects like Arcadia, Dolphinarium, and Shevchenko Park will go bankrupt. The construction business will also slow down.
There is also nothing to reorient the economy towards: the Odessa port today is in disrepair and instead of the maritime “gateway to the Eurasian empire” (as the long-suffering deputy Igor Markov promised) it is turning into a toilet for the European empire.
What next? Further - transformation into a mongrel outback like Chisinau (which 25 years ago was the most enviable place to live in the entire Union). And no Porto Franco for you. But in Europe, as they say.
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