EMI or Neobank to deal with Russia

[17042022]

Hello there,

Eastern European company has business with Russia. The problem is that all major banks in that country announced that they are going to stop dealing with incoming payments from Russia next month. Business is absolutely legal in accordance with all EU and USA imposed restrictions.

Some smaller banks still accept incoming payments from Russia but they are going to charge EUR 300-500 fee for each transaction, which is unacceptable for my type of business.

There is an option to setup company in Serbia, Turkey or Armenia to open bank account there, but I am looking for cheaper solution how can i receive wire transfers from Russian banks, which didnt fall under sanctions.

Could you please advice any EMI or neobank which can open account for Eastern European company and which doesn't have any restrictions receiving money from Russia.

Thank you in advance.

 

[VESTANON]

@17042022
place your existing setup at the back burner for now.

setup an offshore entity thats provides a possibility for physical banking attached.

incoming from russia, would have to glared up abit,
1. Of priority would be to Cashout significant amounts from your existing russian bank before the next month deadline comes up, and setup banking where funds cashedout from russian bank can be deposited.

2.Get a P2P service, to swap out your russian funds for crypto or Rubles for /Euros or local currency of Eastern European country you currently have business setup in.

3. If Russian bank debit card is functional in Eastern european country of operations, cashout via ATMs and look for setup and banking that wouldnt connect with russian operations, as per the current situation..

 

[mickey]

@17042022
The best way would be to work with cryptos. You and your customers should setup a crypto-wallet to send funds back an forth. In Russia are numerous exchanges who work with Russians so they can convert their BTC to RUB with ease.

Exchanging across multiple payment methods is the future anyway, due it increases privacy. Meanwhile they are multiple services out there who are offering exact this kind of service.

 

[17042022]

@VESTANON and @mickey
Thank you very much for your suggestions.
However, it's not that easy what you offer.

Let me explain the situation more detailed. I do not own a business in Russia. I just provide a certain services for companies in Russia. My company is located in European Union (one of the Balitc countries). My clients are neither private individuals, nor they are grey / black market companies. They are reputable companies who have absolutely legal businesses. They pay for goods and services abroad using standard tools such as wire transfer. They don't use cash, bitcoins, b2b services etc. And I can't force them to use these tools. The banks, they use for international payments, do not fall under any EU or US sanctions.

It is absolutely legal to send money from there to Europe, however most banks in Baltic countries are going to stop servicing transactions from Russia, because there are certain risks that money can be sent for goods or from entities which fall under sanctions. Every single wire tranfer from Russia is processed manually by bank compliance department and they ask for agreements, invoices and other supporting documents. Still it's absolutely legal.

Also nowdays its very difficult to make a wire transfer from most Russian banks to classic offshore / midshore companies, since they imposed very strict regulations in this regard and mostly Russian banks decline such transactions.

As i said there are solutions for my field of activity which require company / branch setup in such countries like Serbia, Turkey, Armenia, China to acquire a physical bank account there, but it means that besides setup expneses, I have to pay for accounting / virtual odfice / translators etc. That is why I am looking for cheaper solution such as EMI or neobank bank account setup for my eastern european company.

 

[JosephLL]

@17042022
The best way would be to work with cryptos. You and your customers should setup a crypto-wallet to send funds back an forth. In Russia are numerous exchanges who work with Russians so they can convert their BTC to RUB with ease.

Exchanging across multiple payment methods is the future anyway, due it increases privacy. Meanwhile they are multiple services out there who are offering exact this kind of service.

You cannot simply "work with cryptos" since you have to satisfy accounting requirements. In case of east-european jurisdiction certainly are nonexistent or highly unfriendly when it comes to cryptos.

 

[lacomaco]

You cannot simply "work with cryptos" since you have to satisfy accounting requirements. In case of east-european jurisdiction certainly are nonexistent or highly unfriendly when it comes to cryptos.

I guess you mean exact rules for accounting crypto-related transactions are not defined. If you treat crypto payment as ordinary income then hardly any country would object. You may treat it as currency, security, IP or “other” asset but it only influences the section of where you book the incoming “amount”. Also I think Eastern Europe consists of more than 10 countries so to generalize their accounting treatment as highéy unfriendly is a mistake.