13:21 21.06.2013

Yandex.Money legal in Ukraine, system does not operate on country's territory - company's position

2 min read

Russia's Yandex.Money payment system is not illegal in Ukraine, as the system does not operate on the territory of the country and it is not a player on its banking market, the press service of Yandex.Money told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

"Unlike WebMoney, Yandex.Money did not have and does not have a separate economic entity in Ukraine. In addition, Yandex.Money does not pay in hryvnias, while the money of clients from various countries remain on correspondent accounts in Russia – on the accounts of the non-banking credit organization Yandex.Money, which operates under a license issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation," the press service said.

The company also said that the statement of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) that Yandex.Money does not have the right to work on the Ukrainian market is right.

"The NBU said that Yandex.Money does not have the right to work on the Ukrainian market – this is absolutely true, and that’s why it does not work there. As soon as Yandex.Money decides to open a separate representative office in Kyiv, the company will agree its actions with the regulators," the press service said.

Yandex.Money also said that the Yandex.Money service does not go beyond Russia. The service is provided from the territory of Russia, and Ukrainian can use it as well as other international services, for example, Skype.

"This is the same as when a Ukrainian resident comes to Russia and uses a taxi in Moscow, paying with Russian rubles for it. The rights of clients in this situation are protected by Russian law," the company said.

The company added that Yandex.Ukraine is not a representative office of Russia's Yandex.Money non-banking credit organization LLC.

On Wednesday, some media reports said, referring to an official from the Income and Tax Ministry of Ukraine that it is planned to check other payment systems operating in Ukraine, including Yandex.Money.

Tax inspectors on June 11, 2013, searched WebMoney's office in Kyiv.

Ukraine's Income and Tax Ministry said it had achieved the freezing of UAH 60 million on accounts related to WebMoney. The main investigation department determined that the rules of this global settlement system's activities had not been agreed with the National Bank of Ukraine.

As a result of the search, a significant amount of computer equipment, which supported the work of the settlement system and which stored information about the activities of the system, was seized.

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