The Russian Federation President signed the bill that changed some of the points in the federal law on currency regulation and control: there are no limits on the amount of foreign currency close relatives can send to each other in the form of money orders any longer. According to SKB-Bank’s Commission-based Services Director Lyudmila Belyaeva, this is a reasonable and expected measure taken by the state in order to make such money orders more ‘liberal’.

Prior to the bill, people could only send up to $5,000 abroad every day, and no money orders using foreign currency were legal in Russia. Now, as soon as the new law comes into force, natural persons will be permitted to send any amount of foreign currency to their spouses or close relatives or present money through non-cash transactions.

‘This is very significant news for such a multinational country as Russia, given particularly the ties it has with the former Soviet republics. The new law is a great step in terms of making the banking market more civilized and efficient as well. People often give money to their relatives living both within Russia and abroad, and it’s not always easy or even possible to do this personally,’ Ms Belyaeva says.

‘The new, simplified rules of foreign currency transfers make it possible to allot the money after selling a place or coming into a fortune of some sort. What is more, parents can now feel safe when sending their children money needed to cover their tuition fees, and people can support their relatives abroad. It’s certainly easier to play by the rules than try to fool the state through highly undependable means,’ she observes.