Ukrainians and Russians love shopping in Monaco.

Duty Free services company Global Refund released information for Monaco at the beginning of this year showing that many of the biggest spending visitors are from Russia and Ukraine. The organization analyzed 5932 transactions between May and September 2009, taking into account travelers who could claim a refund on VAT.

During the 2009 period, the share of transactions by nationality was:

• Russians, 32%
• Americans, 12%
• Ukrainians, 7%
• Japanese, 4%
• Chinese, 4%

But if the Russians are rushing around making lots of purchases, it's the Ukrainians who are handing over the most money. Across all sales, each Ukrainian spent on average 2960 euros, but the figures revealed that the largest amounts are being spent on watches and jewelry. The average spending by nationality on jewelry was:

• Ukrainians, 10636 euros
• Russians, 6636 euros
• Japanese, 5983 euros

The figures should be taken in context. Global Refund launched its tax free Cote d'Azur (CdA) Shopping Guide for Russians in June 2009, listing luxury boutiques and gastronomic restaurants in Cannes, Nice, St Tropez and Monaco. This followed a very successful 2008, when tax free purchases by Russians reached 39 million euros, a whopping 34% increase over 2007 figures, and accounting for 38% of all regional tax free sales. Most transactions took place in Cannes (41.1%), followed by Monaco (25.2%), which was most important in terms of the average value of a shopping basket:

• Monaco, 3167 euros
• Cannes, 1251 euros
• St Tropez, 1097 euros

Global Refund was in Monaco in January to talk about its 2010 tax free guide for Russians. Representatives of the company met with Monaco luxury retailers to talk about using Global Refund's services. It organized a workshop on maximizing international sales through tax free tourism, and during the event the figures were revealed.

Duty free in Monaco : Ukrainians are biggest spenders