The number of transfers from Russia to Belarus in the second half of August, after the start of active protests in Minsk, decreased by 20% compared to the first half of the month. This is evidenced by the data provided by Unistream, which the service shared with Izvestia.
During the same period, the volume of transfers also decreased – by 13%. At the same time, the cash flow from the Republic of Belarus to Russia over the past 2.5 weeks slightly (by 7%) exceeded the figure for the first 10 days of August, according to Unistream.
After the presidential elections in Belarus on August 9, protest actions of citizens who disagreed with the results began in the country. Some businesses went on strike. That is why the volumes of transfers in the first decade (from 1 to 10 August) and for the last 2.5 weeks (from 10 to 27 August) were compared with each other.
In August, the total volume of transfers from Belarus to Russia and in the opposite direction compared to July decreased by about 12%, and the number of transfers – by 17% and 6%, respectively, Unistream said. The Zolotaya Korona money transfer service informed Izvestia that there were no changes in the dynamics in this direction. Western Union does not disclose information on transfers to individual countries, the company’s press service said. The Contact money transfer service and the Russian Post did not respond to inquiries.
According to the most recent data from the Bank of Russia for the 1st quarter of 2020, the turnover of cross-border transfers between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus amounted to $ 30.5 million. This is about 1.5% of the total turnover of money transfers with foreign countries (in the 1st quarter it amounted to $ 2.2 billion).
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation did not promptly respond to Izvestia’s inquiry about the dynamics of money transfers between countries in August. The National Bank of Belarus told Izvestia that they collect information on cross-border transfers on a quarterly basis. The latest data refers to the II quarter of 2020.
Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia:
Not translated yet: the number of payments from Russia to Belarus fell by 20%