How to transfer money to Russia from abroad: all relevant ways

Western sanctions against the country’s financial system made it more difficult to transfer money from abroad to Russia. Every day we are approached by a large number of foreign students who do not know how to get money from parents for tuition and accommodation. In this article we have collected the most relevant and possible options.

 1. Through money transfer systems

There are three services available for transfers: Contact, KoronaPay and Unistream.
Below we will analyze each of them. "Service locations".
It is important to note that according to the instructions of the Bank of Russia dated March 11, 2022, money sent from another country in foreign currency to the recipient in the territory of Russia are issued only in rubles.

“Contact”

On the official website of the service, the Q&A block indicates that the service does not restrict the acceptance of money transfers from abroad to Russia: "We recommend to clarify the details at the place of sending in partner systems that work on the territory of other countries".
Transfer through online service from a foreign bank card will not be possible, only cards of payment systems Visa, MasterCard and Mir of Russian banks are supported for write-off; transfers through online service to a card of another country are also not available.
Sending money to Russia is possible from the following countries: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Vietnam, UAE, Morocco. The full geography of the countries and the nearest locations can be found on the service site in the section "Service locations".

“KoronaPay”

This service allows to transfer money to Russia from the following countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Israel, Greece, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan. The full list can be found on the official website of the service.
On the site of the service, it is stated as follows: "You can pay for the transfer with Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Mir cards issued by Russian banks"; you can also make transfers from cards issued in Europe. It is also possible to transfer funds in cash at branches of partner banks.

“Unistream”

Through this service you can transfer to Russia at one time no more than 300 thousand rubles or equivalent in currency, including commission.
Money can be sent to Russia from the following countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan. The full list can be found on the official website of Unistream.

2. Through bank cross-border transfers

It is also possible to transfer money from another country to Russia using SWIFT- transfers according to the account details, if the current account is opened in the following banks: Tinkoff, Rosbank, Gazprombank, Raiffeisenbank. It should be noted that the speed with which funds are transferred has significantly decreased.

 3. Through stablecoins

What is this? Stablecoin is a digital currency whose value is tied to the exchange rate of another asset.
An example of this currency is the USDT, which is pegged to the US dollar at a ratio of 1:1.
You can buy stablecoins using crypto exchanges, p2p-platforms and exchange offices.
In the next article we will tell you how to safely purchase stablecoins.