The economic crisis has hit Russians in their most sensitive spot as condom prices in the country have risen by 15 percent and are likely to continue swelling, a news report said.
The ruble has depreciated 44 percent against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year and the currency continues to free fall, which makes the imports of goods — including condoms ?€” more expensive.
Russia has no rubber trees of its own, Rusnovosti.ru news website said Friday, citing a representative for a drug store union.
The male contraceptives are commonly produced from natural latex, collected from tropical trees. Most of today's latex is generated by rubber tree plantations in Southeast Asia.
The economic downturn has affected Russians across their sex life: Media in two regions reported last week that local prostitutes were hiking rates or pegging them to dollar.
"Girls can't work at a loss," an unnamed brothel manager was cited as saying in one of the reports.