In Russia, the turnover of cash has increased to a record high. According to Bloomberg, citing anonymous officials, this is due to payments to relatives of Wagner PMC fighters who died in the war.
PMC Wagner pays the families of the victims compensation in cash in the amount of five million rubles. Since the announcement of partial mobilization, the total excess cash outflow from banks amounted to 2.2 trillion rubles, the newspaper notes.
In foreign trade, cash is increasingly used for settlements, and they are also in use in the occupied territories of Ukraine, where Russia is introducing its own currency.
According to the Central Bank, the turnover of cash has been growing almost continuously for 10 months. In time, this coincides with the period of the battles for Bakhmut, in which many Wagnerians died.
Bloomberg, citing several relatives of the victims, writes that compensations are issued at distribution points across the country in bags. Many people are advised not to carry cash to banks. A resident of Chelyabinsk told the publication that she did not want problems with the tax authorities and she did not have documents confirming the origin of the money. “We have already bought an apartment,” she said.