In Moscow, there was a “exchange paradise”: Turkish lira in any amount

The first and basic association with the words “currency exchange” for Russians is the purchase and sale of dollars and euros. Well, maybe even British pounds sometimes. We are extremely rarely interested in other currencies – even in those countries where national money is in use, we prefer to travel with dollars and already change them. However, theoretically, foreign currency can also be bought in Moscow – MK correspondents found out in practice whether this is realistic.

The restrictions that were introduced by the Central Bank in the spring of 2022 apply only to dollars and euros – the most popular currencies are available for purchase only if someone has previously sold them. “Until March 9, 2023, restrictions on the purchase of foreign currency remain in force: banks can only sell euros and US dollars received by their cash desks after April 9, 2022 to citizens. There are no restrictions on the sale of other foreign currencies, ”the official website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation says. This means that less demanded currencies can – theoretically! – buy anywhere and as much as you want. However, in practice, everything is somewhat more complicated.

“No, we don’t sell Japanese yen,” they immediately refuse at a bank branch near the Baumanskaya metro station. – You can’t pre-order either. They are not available at all, you will not find them.

“We don’t work with Israeli shekels,” a teller at another bank answers in bewilderment.

– As it is indicated on the site! ..

No, it’s some kind of mistake.

Well, if we didn’t succeed with such, let’s try to look for European currencies in Moscow – after all, not the entire Schengen zone has switched to the single euro, somewhere they still honor originality. Let’s say Czech crowns, Hungarian forints, Polish zlotys… let’s start with them!

— How much do you need in zlotys? – the cashier of the bank located near the Lubyanka metro station immediately clarifies: the site led there.

– The equivalent of 1500 euros.

“No, girl, that won’t do. Please tell me the exact amount. We have currency, but not much. I’ll clarify now, – pause, – 500 zlotys are now available, we can sell them to you.

Today’s Polish money rate:

1 zloty – 13 rubles. This means that you can spend no more than 6,500 rubles on the purchase of zlotys. The equivalent of 100 dollars or euros. For a tourist or a business traveler who would really be going to Poland, this amount is only enough for a couple of days, and even then back to back.

The same situation with the currencies of the Scandinavian countries: Swedish and Norwegian kroner. By the way, they can be quite popular: one of the popular routes among those who nevertheless decided to leave for Europe in 2022 is across the land border to Finland, and from there by ferry to Stockholm.

– What amount do you need? the operator immediately asks. “Now we have 500 NOK and 400 SEK in stock. If you need more, I will clarify: maybe you can order in advance?

At the exchange rate for today, 1 Swedish krona is 5.9 rubles, and one Norwegian krone is 6.2 rubles. This means that for a visit to Stockholm we would be able to get the equivalent of 2360 rubles, and for a trip to Oslo – 3100 rubles. Given the Scandinavian high cost – well, quite sparsely …

In this case, maybe the currency changers, common for any city in the world, will help? Previously, they were always in stalls at the Kyiv or Belorussky railway stations – where trains went to the corresponding countries. What can I say: transport security, the covid pandemic and the break in the international railway connection to the West have closed this “shop” for us. There is nothing similar at both stations. You can’t buy hryvnias (well, you never know!), No sums, soms, manats, or Turkish liras.

And, by the way, banking aggregators – the same pair of useful sites that used to display not only exchange rates, but also exchange points for any “exotic” – are silent. No, they say, in Moscow there is a place where you can buy Turkish lira! And sums too. And tenge.

Do you believe in it? So we didn’t believe it. And they found a way to acquire such currency. First, let’s think about who might need it. Well, yes, those who are traveling right now to Turkey or the Asian countries of the CIS, and mainly by land. As a result, we are going to the giant wholesale food market outside the Moscow Ring Road along the Kaluga highway.

And – hurrah! – there are tenge, and manats, and Turkish lira! Moreover, in two official exchangers they are available for everyone, but, as one of the fruit wholesalers advised the MK correspondent, you can try to ask truck drivers with the necessary numbers. They may well change cash (and if you look like a Muslim and know a couple of phrases from the prayers, they will make you a good rate too).

Yes, but what about the much more solid currency for our days – the yuan? A couple of bank branches still sell them. One of the offices is located, for example, on Khoroshevsky highway. It is quite possible to get yuan there – but, as in the case of European “exotics”, only within the capacity of the cash desk, and with a small number of people changing it a little. Day to day, the MK correspondent could only buy 1,000 yuan – nothing for a business trip, even more so for business.

Which, in general, is understandable: the most powerful system of dollar and euro exchangers in Russia is connected (well, was connected) with the fact that these currencies had an unofficial reserve status, and tourism to Europe was massive. If this era is over, exchangers will soon die out. And the demand for all other currencies, especially in “paper”, and not on accounts, is a derivative of foreign trips. Which, alas, are few…