Last week PayPal blocked a Russian account that was intended to fund large-scale publication of a critical report about Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis. Released on May 12, the report was initiated by opposition leader Boris Nemtsov before he was murdered earlier this year.
The US company explained that its service “does not offer the option of using its system to receive donations for political parties or political causes in Russia” – a phrasing which Vsevolod Chagayev, one of the activists behind the publication, called “delirious” in a Twitter message.
Yandex.Money, a Russian e-payment service which is controlled by state-owned Sberbank, appeared as being more liberal than PayPal. Having opened another electronic wallet via this system, the activists raised more than 300,000 rubles ($6,000) as of May 18, Chagayev told RFE/RL.
Another paradox is that PayPal does support such fundraising in other countries, with a special service dedicated to accepting political donations. It even provides customizable “donate” buttons for fundraisers to put on websites.
In an exchange with East-West Digital News, PayPal’s press service confirmed the company’s official position on the matter: “PayPal Russia does not currently allow any political parties or political causes in Russia to receive donations due to the complexity of complying with local rules which require validating the identity of donors. We regret any disappointment this may cause our customers.”
PayPal became fully active on the Russian market in September 2013. With 2 million active accounts as of late 2014, the US operator still lags behind its Russian competitors Qiwi, WebMoney and Yandex.Money. These have attracted several dozens of million users in total so far, as reported in a recent EWDN study on Russian e-commerce.
