Export of currency is limited
Yesterday, the Duma approved a restriction on the export of cash currency outside Russia. It is very likely that by the summer holiday season, new rules will already be in effect in the country: take with you no more than $5 thousand.

Yesterday's discussion in the Duma of amendments to the law "On introducing amendments to the Russian Federation Law 'On Currency Regulation and Currency Control'" was a turning point. It was at this meeting that it was to be decided whether the Duma would support the government initiative to limit the export of cash currency. And yesterday it was absolutely not important what numbers and words the document contained. What was important was the principled approval or disapproval of the first prohibition measure against the dollar. The Duma voted for the government's proposals. Now, if the bill is supported by the Federation Council (and apparently it will be), the authorities, having overcome the psychological barrier, will definitely go further in this direction. The outcome of any prohibition campaign is well known - the black currency market and the rise of fraud.
Unfortunately, this scenario is almost inevitable. Firstly, the anti-dollar campaign is beneficial from a political point of view: the dissatisfaction of the majority of the population with the sharp increase in the welfare of the minority is excellent ground for election speculation. Secondly, the half-measure proposed by the government (the export of cash is prohibited, but not traveler's checks and “plastic” money) will not solve the problem. The flight of currency from the country cannot be stopped in this way. It will just cost more for the citizens exporting it. Consequently, the authorities will have to take additional anti-currency measures.
Thirdly, it is difficult to expect economically thoughtful and justified actions from the government, which as an argument cites the figure of the annual “net export” of $7-8 billion in foreign currency. According to the Ministry of Finance, only amounts over $5 thousand were exported from Russia in 1998 $4.9 billion, and amounts over $100 thousand - $1.9 billion. However, it is clear that these figures are fiction. Do customs officers check how much money is brought back into the country? No. In addition, most of the exported amounts are returned in the form of goods. So what kind of capital export is this then? There is no need to talk about the prudence of the Duma at all. Yesterday, for example, Gennady Raikov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), when discussing the bill, was indignant at the fact that non-residents are allowed to export exactly as much money as they imported. And he immediately proposed extending the “five thousand” limit to citizens of other countries. It is clear that after a couple of international scandals, the flow of people wishing to visit our country will immediately dry up - not a single foreigner will want to take their hard-earned money to Russian banks and, on top of that, pay for their transfer back to their homeland.
One thing is surprising in this situation. The Russian authorities, overwhelmed by the desire to get into the wallets of their citizens, are ready to sacrifice the remaining trust of the economically active population. After all, the first to suffer from innovations will be the shuttle traders and their clients. The calculations of the Ministry of Finance, according to which the shuttles take with them approximately $5 thousand, do not stand up to criticism. Even traders of relatively cheap goods (socks, toys, etc.) work with larger sums - let alone those who specialize in leather and fur.
Moreover, if you are serious about controlling the movement of currency across the Russian border, it is much easier to do it differently. It is enough to set a limit on the free export of cash currency, for example, at $10 thousand (it is known that amounts from $5 thousand to $10 thousand constitute only 10% of the total volume of exported currency). And anything over this amount can be exported only with special permission from government agencies. As part of this procedure, in addition to improving accounting, it would be possible to determine the legality of the origin of large amounts of cash currency. It is precisely this - permissive - nature of control over currency flows that the Yabloko faction advocates. However, this point of view is unlikely to be supported by the majority of deputies of the lower house.

ANDREY B-BAGROV

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 70 dated April 24, 1999, p. 1