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Pycckuù

Transferring money to Russia

• Ask a trusted person who travels to Russia to carry your US dollar bills. You can buy foreign currency at the local office of your bank. You can also send Norwegian kroner, but it will be more complicated and expensive to sell them in Russia. You can't buy or sell roubles in Norway.

  Don't forget to declare currency on the Russian border and keep all customs declarations with you. This will help you avoid problems, should you later take cash out of Russia.

• Use bank transfer, mail a cheque, etc. In my experience, this is expensive, takes longer and is cumbersome for the recipient in Russia. Also, note that the Russian banking system has been unstable in times.

• (Mailing cash by insured letters may no longer work. In the beginning of 2002, I had one returned.)

  Mail US dollar bills to Russia by insured letter, with honest description of content. You write, for instance, "Cash USD 700" on the Customs Declaration / Toll douane label and send the letter as verdibrev, insured for the equivalent amount in Norwegian kroner. Please be aware that the post regulations prohibit mailing cash to Russia, but in practice it works. Take my advice entirely at your own risk!

  You send cash by insured letter not because you would get the value back if the letter is lost (you most likely won't, due to your violation of the post regulations). The real purpose of using insured letter is to make sure it is handed to the right addressee. The Russian post office will send a notice to the addressee and hold your letter until the recipient comes in person, with his/her passport. It takes about 10 days for an insured letter to reach St. Petersburg. We used it many times.

• Take US dollars with you (see above).

• Leave money on your Norwegian bank account and draw them via credit card as necessary. This is a bit expensive and not very convenient. The standard Norwegian bank card may be valid in some places in Russia. Visa/MasterCard is valid in all places where credit cards are accepted.

  Banks in Russia take a 2-3% commission for withdrawing cash via credit cards. You can, however, transfer a large amount in one manual operation at the bank.

  If you use cash dispensers, the maximum amount per operation is limited. With most credit cards, there is a fixed fee per operation (check with your bank). Always calculate how much you lose on this fee (it often results in 10% or more loss).

  Shopping with credit cards in theory isn't more expensive, but not all stores accept them. Also, while in Norway it makes no difference how you pay in the store, credit card payments are less profitable for Russian firms. You may get a discount if you offer to pay in cash.

Last updated in March 2002