Economics

Crisis in Russia Puts $13 Billion of Remittances at Risk

  • Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan are reliant on remittances from Russia
  • Lockdowns in Russia’s biggest cities have cut migrant jobs
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
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Russia’s deepening economic crisis is on the verge of spilling into some of the most remittance-dependent economies in the world.

Migrant workers from the former-Soviet Union send $13 billion home each year from Russia, where they are allowed to work visa-free. But now that money is starting to dry up due to lockdowns in Moscow and St. Petersburg that have halted construction projects and sapped demand for taxis.