Money exchange

[glock_girl]

Any input on whether or not certain banks in Moscow will take Canadian dollars to exchange for roubles?
ha ha ha...I'm serious.

The cost of buying US dollars here is going to be high - I'm just wondering if it's worth it.

Although, I hear the majority of things are paid for in US dollars anyways. Is it true?

[Tot]

Hi glock_girl!

I can assure you that there are some banks that could exchange Canadians dollars. I don't think it is a problem to sell them here. To buy - could be a problem. Just one advise - never change your money in airoports or in big central and luxuary shops!

As to the payments in USD. You could pay in USD to natural persons, but for the legal persons (firms, shops, etc.) it is banned (if of course they do not have a special lisence). So if you see the price in USD it means that you should pay an equivalent in rubles by the "exchange rate" of this particular shop. Some times they call these price figures "the price in conditional units"

Best regars,

Tot

[glock_girl]

Thank you! I have been forewarned about the airport kiosks changing money. Now that it is confirmed, I will be sure NOT to go there.

Ha! This will be the first place I've travelled (since 1994) where the Canadian dollar is actually worth something!

[Dr_Woland]

hiya

even so, it ought to be said that MOST of the Moscow bureaux-de-change don't change anything except the USD, DM, and maybe the Yen (a few). In St, because it is next-door, you can fairly easily change FIM (Finnish Marks).

I *can* change GB Pounds here in Moscow BUT I have to go to a few special places to do it, and make a special out-of-the-way journey. I would always advise people to bring USD myself.

But as Tot so rightly said - you can't spend US$ directly here, nowhere will take it (it's against the law to do so). You have to change your $'s into roubles for your day to day spending.

BTW, cash-machines (ATM'S) all over Moscow (in every Metro station) take Visa or Master or Cirrus-logo cards for transactions of up to R5000 (= approx $150).

Dr W.

[glock_girl]

OK then. So it's better to bring USD and I can change them at a majority of places in Moscow (or even nearby in another city?)

Crappy - the USD is $1.50 approx. Canadian now, and I hear it's supposed to get worse

[Dr_Woland]

the USD is definitely THE best currency to carry in Russia. Outside major cities, it is very likely the ONLY currency you'd be able to change. I was in Kolomna just before New Year, and the only currency the bank would take was USD, for example. And Kolomna is not a village, but a sizeable commuter-belt town serving the Moscow area.

The Russian economy is heavily linked to the USD, and many prices are habitually calculated in USD, and simply "payable at time of purchase" in the prevailing rouble-price equivalent. In Moscow and elsewhere you will see the "UEV" - Unit of Currency Value. The idea is, that shops, restaurants etc issue a menu, price-list etc in "UEV's", and you pay at today's exchange-rate. Oddly enough, 1 UEV is always equal to US$ 1 :-))

By the way, if you try hard enough, you can make the acronym "UEV" sound quite rude in modern Russian <g>

Dr W.

[glock_girl]

Ha ha ha - UEV, eh?
You know all the tricks