Economic Sanctions

So far the U.S. economic sanctions have not effected our wire transfer to Russia. It has, however, effected some. My understanding is that a simple wire transfer to a Russian bank is not a violation of the U.S. economic sanctions, however it is scrutinized very closely. Because of this scrutiny, some U.S. banks have chosen to not process any transactions to the Russian banks listed in the U.S. economic sanctions. This is done as a risk management measure. This has left many missionaries in Russia and the Ukraine without money. Some have been able to rely on their credit cards, but it should be noted that Russia is very much a cash based society, especially in the villages. 

Fortunately our wire transfer went through this month, but we do not know how long our U.S. bank will continue to process our wire transfers. One possible solution that we are looking into is opening a bank account with a German based bank that also operates in Krasnoyarsk. Such a bank would comply with all the E.U. standards so there should not be any problems. Another possibility is to open an account with a Russian bank that is not listed with the sanctions. 

In addition to this, prices of goods are beginning to increase and it is predicted that they will continue to increase. Please pray for the missionaries in both Russia and the Ukraine, especially for those who are without funds.