Great news, everyone. Expats can't use Yandex Money any more, at least according to their "Legal and Security Department." (Yandex Money is like a Russian PayPal.) Apparently, now, only citizens of the RF can use Yandex Money. Again, according to the drones at Yandex Money.
The story: I enjoy launching Websites as a hobby. (OK, during the crisis, I'll do some professional Web work, but you understand.) I used to pay for hosting (usually Masterhost -- they're good) using Yandex Money (Y$). It was easy... I'd buy a payment card at a kiosk, throw some cash on my Y$ account, then just transfer that to the service provider online. Mucho convenient. A couple of weeks ago, I had to re-launch a Website for a colleague, but forgot my Y$ payment password. I was required to come to the Y$ office in order to have it re-set. Fine. I came in with my US passport, filled out a form, and voila... Within three hours my password was reset, but I also received notice that my Agreement was being nullified, due to some unspecified RF law, which somehow stated that only RF citizens could have such accounts. (?!?) Also, that I had 10 days to spend my remaining balance, after which the account itself would be "nullified." I notified them with a refusal, and a demand for them to quote me the specific law in the RF Codex. They simply repeated, "Look, we can nullify the contract whenever we want, so hurry up and spend your remaining cash." Conclusion: I'm spending the money left on my Yandex Money account, but leaving 100 rubles on there. Their Terms of Use agreement doesn't indicate a clear-cut excuse for them to "eat" the remaining money, so my lawyer friends and I might just have some fun, accusing Y$ in Criminal Theft. Yes, over 100 rubles -- hahaha, that IS the American Way! (But as Scooby Doo would say, "rots o' ruck.") Epilogue: Take it as you want. I'm not a panic-monger: I'm fluent in Russian, so I didn't misunderstand Y$'s replies one bit, and relayed the situation to you all as it is. But I don't reply well to expats being screwed, so I had to relay the story. All the best, -Alexander P.S. If I find out what mysterious "RF law" forbids non-citizens from buying kiosk cards and paying for stuff with the virtual funds, I'll CERTAINLY let you know.
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