The dwellers of Kurgan Region are reported to have bough over $2m worth of Sberbank of Russia’s traveler’s checks in January-August 2008, which exceeds the figures for January-August 2007 by 20%.

The bank’s experts report there are also plenty of workers who earn a living outside the region and prefer to turn the money they’ve made into TCs and cash them in Kurgan. This year, Sberbank’s Kurgan branch has paid over $70,000 worth of checks so far, which exceeded the figures for a year earlier by 92%.

The experts explain that it’s wise to buy the TCs in cash that is normally used in the country one is going to. Sberbank’s Kurgan division offers its customers American Express checks in U.S. dollars and euros and can cash in the checks issued by American Express, Citicorp, Visa, and Thomas Cook.