Central Bank of Russia reports the volume of money orders rose by 69% last year, with the better part of money transferred from rather than to Russia. Individuals living or staying in Russia, for instance, sent $6 billion abroad and only received $1.3 billion in 2006. Most of the money went to the CIS (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Armenia, and Moldova). People who sent money to Russia were mainly based in the countries of the far abroad.

SKB-Bank’s Commission-based Services Director Lyudmila Belyaeva says the money generally goes from a richer country to a poorer one. ‘Most money orders are made by foreign workers who sent the money they’ve made in Russia to their relatives at home,’ Ms Belyaeva observes.

The only CIS member where the flow of money to Russia was greater than that from Russia was Kazakhstan, which was brought about by the money transfers made by Kazakh people who moved to Russia in order to apply for citizenship.

The average money order amounted to $546 last year, SKB-Bank’s press officer reports.