No consequences: Russian citizens in Israel cannot receive Russian pensions

Russians living in Israel cannot receive their pensions from the Russian Federation. Since March 2022, when most of our banks were sanctioned by the United States and the EU, the Social Fund of Russia has faced technical difficulties in transferring money to pensioners abroad. At the same time, it has not yet been possible to coordinate alternative payment options with the Israeli side, the Russian Embassy told Izvestia. The Knesset notes that now almost 40 thousand people from Russia remain without pensions. The question of whether it is realistic to solve the problem at the cabinet level and how to get funds now is in the Izvestia article.

The problem of non-payment of pensions

Thousands of Russian-speaking Israelis still face difficulties receiving pensions from Russia. The relevant departments of both countries are now actively looking for a way out of the current situation, the Russian Embassy in the Jewish state told Izvestia.

— Several rounds of bilateral consultations were held, during which various options for ensuring pension payments were discussed, including through the transition from dollar transfers to transfers in other currencies. However, none of these options have been implemented so far, mainly due to the lack of a financial infrastructure that allows direct settlements between our countries and the unwillingness of the Israeli side to create it. But the work continues, and we believe that a mutually beneficial solution to the problem will be found," the embassy noted.

Izvestia sent inquiries about the progress of the negotiation process to the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel.

The issue of payments to repatriates eligible for pensions from Russia and other former Soviet countries is also being discussed in the Israeli Parliament. So, at the end of June, a meeting of the commission on Aliyah, absorption and Diaspora affairs was held. Yevgeny Sova, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and a member of the Our Home is Israel party, told Izvestia that recipients of Russian pensions for their work experience in the Russian Federation can be divided into three groups.

The first group includes people who receive money directly from the Russian Social Fund to Israeli accounts. All of them made payments before 2016, that is, before the signing of a bilateral agreement on cooperation in the field of social security. The second group consists of those who also applied for a pension before 2016, but left an account with a Russian bank. The third group unites those who submitted documents after 2017 under an interstate agreement through the Israeli National Insurance Service (Bituach Leumi), they receive money from Israel.

As Sova noted, since March 2022, the second group has completely lost payments, since Israeli banks stopped working with Russian banks due to sanctions. The first group continued to receive money until January 2025 through a correspondent bank that cooperated with Gazprombank. However, after he was also sanctioned in January 2025, both groups remained without payments. As a result, according to Evgeny Sova, now almost 40 thousand people do not receive a Russian pension.

The politician believes that to solve the problem, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Bank of Israel could issue a special permit (or guarantees) to one of the local banks to work with Russian pension funds. However, this issue is in the plane of state relations between Israel and Russia.

How can payments be made from Israel to the Russian Federation

Nevertheless, Russians still have ways to transfer money to Israel. The simplest and most practical option is to open accounts with several large Russian banks and monitor the availability of direct transfers, Alexey Petrov, managing director of the Vepay payment service, told Izvestia. According to him, such an opportunity appears periodically, although sometimes it disappears.

Usually, the list of available countries for transactions is immediately visible in the application of the credit institution, and details can be clarified in the bank's support service. There you should also find out the limits of transactions and the amount of commission — the conditions in financial institutions are different.

For example, as of August 19, Israel is not among the available destinations in the applications "Sber", "Alpha" and PSB. The correspondent of Izvestia was convinced of this. However, this country is on the list of Ozone Bank, as well as MTS. In both cases, it is indicated that transfers go through the Multitransfer system. The service notes that the commission is zero, but the total amount of the transfer will also depend on the exchange rate. It should be checked immediately before sending the money. Izvestia has sent official inquiries to these banks.

— As far as we know, many people have already applied for pensions in rubles to their accounts in Russian banks. This option, of course, is not suitable for everyone, but so far it is the only way to receive stable pension payments," the Russian Embassy in Israel noted.

Another way is to use an account and a foreign card opened in a bank in a country friendly to Russia, for example in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan, Alexey Petrov continued. It can be issued personally or by proxy. There are many such offers now, but it is worth choosing proven services. Some of them even cooperate with large Russian banks. Both physical and virtual cards are available for registration. Access to the latter can be obtained much faster.

Transfer limits and restrictions need to be found out separately for each product. If the card is plastic, then it can usually also be used in ATMs and for larger transactions. However, it will also cost more. For registration, on average, you will have to spend from 15 thousand to 40 thousand rubles. At the same time, it is usually quite simple to transfer money from Russia to a foreign account in a friendly country. It is often suggested to send funds by phone number (as in the SBP), and the money is credited instantly. Then you can either pay with this card abroad, or send money from it to any other account abroad.

Another promising option is stablecoins, the expert shared. These are cryptocurrencies, the exchange rate of which is stable (unlike bitcoin) and is pegged, for example, to the dollar or euro. As the new regulation of digital currency develops (Federal Law No. 282-FZ comes into force on September 1), it will be possible to legally buy a stablecoin in rubles in the Russian Federation. Then it should become easier to exchange it for shekels. But here it is important to use regulated services and keep proof of the origin of the money. Foreign platforms for crypto transfers are also available now.

It is optimal to have several financial channels at once: a Russian pension account, a reserve bank in the Russian Federation and a foreign international card. At the same time, the average transfer fee will be no more than 3%.