Spent most of last night trying and failing to transfer money from my Russian accounts to the UK. Then gave up, and bought a ticket for today's game! Surely today has to be better? COYR!
Are oligarchs like you allowed to undertake transactions for match day tickets (asking for a friend)?
Just out of interest, is the thought on the table as to whether you and your family stay where you are or whether you might up sticks? Sorry if you have covered this elsewhere - I am just interested in what this all looks like from the Russian population angle, whether things are starting to bite yet economically and what people know and perceive to know about what's going on. Suspect it's going to get much worse very quickly.
We're not entirely sure yet, as a lot of things are still up in the air. Certainly we're looking at relocating, as the near future looks very bleak in Russia. Most of our friends are either trying to get out, or at least relocate their businesses to another country. But one of the main problems is that due to Visa and Mastercard no longer working in Russia, many people are unable to access their money once they leave the country. I understand putting sanctions in place, but a lot of ordinary Russians are getting clobbered through no fault of their own. The ones that are suffering worst are the progressive and creative classes, small and medium sized business owners in the bigger cities, most of whom have never voted for Putin and are categorically against the war. Another issue that we have is the Home Office's ludicrous immigration rules for foreign spouses. My wife is currently on a tourist visa which means she cannot work, despite the fact that there are loads of jobs which demand Russian speakers fluent in English. According to the rules, she is supposed to go back to Russia to apply, but I'm of the opinion that this is blatantly not reasonable. We're currently speaking to a lawyer, so we'll see what happens.
