As you may have gathered by now, travel to and about Russia as well as the CIS requires special preparation. The spending money you plan to take with you is no different. It is essential that you read this article or you may lose a significant portion of your money due to discounting.
There are two types of money changers in Russia... official and non-official. The official ones tend to have permenant locations such as banks and kisoks. They are linked to Russia's government infrastructure where rates are set by international standard, however their fees will vary. They have set days and hours of operation and will either accept your money for exchange or not based on the condition of your currency.
On the other hand there are the non-official money exchangers. These are independent operators that you will find standing on prominent street corners. Often, you will find them close to locations where money is officially exchanged. They are mobile and have flexible hours of operation. And if the quantity merit it they will even make house calls. For those that are beginners to Russia, I don't recommend using their services. They give no guarantees and no receipts. All transactions are final unless they find later that a bill you slipped them is bogus (unknowing to you of course).
These independents will commonly quote you an exchange rate based on near mint condition bills and the size of the transaction that you want to conduct. Then they will look at your bills and start discounting.
If you expect to exchange your dollars (green backs) to rubles, they have to be in or near mint condition to receive the advertised exchange rate by any changer. They have to be the current ‘new’ bills. Don’t bother with denominations below $20. Unless you are sure your bills are just as fresh as they came off the Federal presses, you will have to inspect them with a fine-tooth comb. The following list are the points the Russian money changers may (will) use to discount your bills:
1) Any folds, creases, rips or tears.
2) Any ink marks or writings (pay special attention to the borders for ink marks).
3) Any bank ink stamps
4) Any staple holes (many bills have been stapled for New Years presents).
5) Any worn of dirty areas.
6) Use of non-current notes (old style bills).
The Russian money changers attention to detail are born out of a proliferation of very good counterfeit US notes that are circulating about. So when there is any doubt, they may elect not to do a transaction at all.
When receiving roubles from an non-official changer, bear in mind that all old style rouble bills are not legal tender. If you are presented bills that you are not positive are current, don't accept them.
Don't assume that your local US branch bank will have a ready supply of such clean green backs available for you on your way to the airport. At least four weeks before your scheduled flight, call or visit your bank to arrange to receive new bills in the amount that you specify. If you forgot to do this you still can withdraw cash conditional upon inspection. The teller may think it odd, however if you explain that it if for international use, they might understand. Use the listed criteria above when inspecting the bills. If you follow these rules then the only thing the money changers can do is ding you for exchanging small amounts.
Ronin
Last edited on Friday September 12th, 2008 08:58 pm by ronin1
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