Hello Jochem, I can advise the option 1. JdR> - The RIPE NCC will continue to send its invoices in EUR. It may be JdR> difficult or not possible to make a payment in RUB when presented with an invoice in EUR. JdR> - As a result of exchange rate differences, payments may be too low or too high As addition to the SSA, RIPE NCC can fix the invoice amount in RUB on the date of invoice. In this case payment instructions are very simple (I can send an example to you or to the list). JdR> - Transferring from such an account to the Netherlands may prove difficult It will not. There is no legal restriction for such operation. I do such transfers every month. JdR> Russian members could transfer payments to the RIPE NCC via a domestic payment in EUR. This means that a lot of russian members should open an additional bank account in EUR (payments in foreign currency should be paid from non-RUB accounts according to law). Opening a bank account will cause a huge paperwork (sometimes more than 20 documents issued by state authority). JdR> 3. To open a bank account in the Netherlands in RUB: This is interesting, but this should be a clear way how to pay. Unfortunately you can't give the simple instruction how to pay. Common payment attributes in such case are: Beneficiary: ABN Amro Bank NL Ben. accnt: number of ABN account in russian correspondent bank (begins from 3) Ben. bank: number of ABN's correspondent bank in Russia Ben. BIC: russian internal BIC Payment instruction: {XXYYYYYY} Payment for RIPE NCC, accnt. no. NLxxx... (RUB), invoice NNNNN XXYYYYYY - is a foreign exchange code, usually only one value. I think option 3 can be realized, but this is not a simple solution. Thursday, March 31, 2011, 4:20:56 PM, you wrote: JdR> Dear colleagues, JdR> In view of discussions at the end of last year on this mailing list, JdR> the RIPE NCC has investigated several options on how to improve making JdR> payments to the RIPE NCC. Over the past months, the RIPE NCC has been in JdR> contact with ZAO Unicredit Bank to discuss several options. JdR> Before the RIPE NCC decides on how to proceed, we would like to share JdR> these different options with you and would like to hear your opinion JdR> and/or preference on the various options. JdR> 1. To open a local bank account in Russia in RUB: JdR> Russian members could transfer payments to the RIPE NCC via a domestic payment in RUB. JdR> The issues with this solution are: JdR> - The RIPE NCC will continue to send its invoices in EUR. It may be JdR> difficult or not possible to make a payment in RUB when presented with an invoice in EUR. JdR> - As a result of exchange rate differences, payments may be too low or too high JdR> - Transferring from such an account to the Netherlands may prove difficult JdR> - It has been difficult to establish clear communication with the local JdR> Russian bank and to get confirmation on certain legal aspects, so at JdR> this point in time it is unclear when precisely we could have such a bank account in Russia operational JdR> 2. To open a local bank account in Russia in EUR: JdR> Russian members could transfer payments to the RIPE NCC via a domestic payment in EUR. JdR> The issues with this solution are: JdR> - Transferring from such an account to the Netherlands may prove difficult JdR> - It has been difficult to establish clear communication with the local JdR> Russian bank and to get confirmation on certain legal aspects, so at JdR> this point in time it is unclear when precisely we could have such a bank account in Russia operational JdR> 3. To open a bank account in the Netherlands in RUB: JdR> Russian members could transfer payments to the RIPE NCC via a foreign payment in RUB. JdR> The issues with this solution are: JdR> - It is unclear whether this facilitates Russian members in making payments to the RIPE NCC JdR> - This facility would be easy to set up and could be operational within a two weeks JdR> Please let us know if any of the options mentioned above would JdR> facilitate your ability to settle your invoices with the RIPE NCC and JdR> what your preferred option would be. JdR> Best regards, JdR> Jochem de Ruig JdR> Chief Financial Officer JdR> RIPE NCC -- Sergey