Issue #16/71, August 12 - 26, 1999  

By Stuart Pratt
The Exile

Expats and Trekkers beware: the next time you leave Sheremetyevo airport, your dollars might be confiscated!

Under a new law passed by the Duma and signed by President Yeltsin on July 5th, foreigners are no longer allowed to leave the country with an undeclared amount of less than $500. Under the old regime, you were allowed--some would even say encouraged--not to declare hard currency brought into the country so long as you did not leave with more than $500.

Amy Higgins, a Canadian marketing executive working in Moscow, was incensed by the new law. "It's just another example of the Russian government taking advantage of foreigners," she said.

When a reporter from this newspaper and his live-in partner tried to leave through Sheremetyevo Airport customs last week on a planned vacation to Turkey, he was forced to change the two hundred dollars he had with him because he did not have a customs declaration form proving he had brought that money into the country. When he had entered the country two months earlier, there was no such law requiring him to declare that two hundred dollars.

Canadian Embassy spokeswoman Roxana Spicer released a statement urging Canadians to use discretion in bringing cash sums in and out of Russia. "When confronted by Customs officials, be calm and remember that you are in a foreign country, and must show respect," she said.

Customs officials could not be reached for comment.