The debt collectors threatened to take away the apartment: Vitalina Bibliv confessed why she was forced to act in Russian films after 2014

On the eve of the global economic crisis in 2008, Ukrainian legendary actress Vitalina Bibliv was enjoying her creative high, so much so that she happily bought an expensive apartment on credit. But she didn't know that all her dreams would soon come crashing down, and she would have to pay off the loan for more than 11 years. To get rid of the collectors, the actress even earned money by working with Russians.

Due to the lack of acting work, Bibliy had to agree to Russian projects that were filmed in Ukraine, she said in an interview with Alina Dorotiuk. In 2015, the bank where the Dr. Baby Dust and House of Happiness star took out a dollar loan was liquidated, but collectors did not leave her family and demanded full payment.

"In 2008, the golden years, when the dollar was 4.5 hryvnias, I had a $500 day's shooting and I was all [cool]. So I decide to take out a dollar loan from Nadra Bank. How much per month? 1042 dollars? Nonsense, three shooting days. And then the crisis of 2008: a dollar at 8-9-12-25-27 hryvnias... Mom! No work, nothing..." the actress said.

Back then, Bibliv had to ask to be in any massive scene, for which she was paid a penny. The price tag for her work decreased 10 times: from $500 to $50.

"And it started: please take me as an extra. You're already starring in Neighbors. Could you please take me as an extra? How much is it, 450 hryvnias [50 dollars]? I agree because I also rent an apartment. And I was filmed as an extra. I am also grateful to these people who did not refuse. At night, I'm in mass scenes somewhere, during the day at children's birthdays..." the star recalled.

Participation in Russian films after 2014 was forced on the actress because of the conditions she found herself in at the time. She still had to pay off her loan, and there were few Ukrainian projects.

"Yes, I acted in Russian projects after 2014, because my government put me in a position to act in Russian films to earn money to pay off my loan. Ukrainian cinema did not offer me any work. That is, the state needs money from me, from a bank that has collapsed. The collectors knocked day and night, saying they would take my apartment, but I had already invested in it, so I was acting in Russian-Ukrainian co-productions," she explained.

However, the actress noted that she had never traveled to Russia for filming. It took her more than 11 years to pay off the loan, and only relatively recently was she able to close this annoying case.

"I've never filmed in Russia and I've never filmed in Moscow, but I've worked in Russian-Ukrainian projects, and that's a fact. But when I closed this loan, I stopped acting in Russian-Ukrainian projects. In October 2019, or 2020," Bibliv said.