The best way to pay for things in Russia is by debit or credit card, though it is important to have some cash for certain expenses.
MasterCard and Visa are accepted almost everywhere, but other types of cards such as American Express, Maestro, UnionPay or Amex are not as widely accepted.
In Russia you have to pay for the products or services in rubles. Neither dollars nor euros nor any other currency are accepted as a legal payment method. It is absolutely mandatory to pay in rubles.
As for the coins, the ruble is divided into one hundred kopeks.
There are also coins of 1, 2, 5 and 10 rubles, which represents the emblem of the Bank of Russia, a double-headed eagle.
Regarding the bills, there are seven circulating types with values of 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 rubles. The same is beginning to happen with the 10-ruble bill that is progressively being replaced by the 10-ruble coin.
To have some Roubles right upon your arrival to Russia we suggest you to exchange 100-300EUR (or USD) at the airport. We do not recommend you to change all the foreign currency into roubles at the airport as the exchange rate there usually is not very good. The most of your money you can change in the banks of the city center or in some official currency exchange offices. For exchanging more than 600EUR it is obligatory to show the original of your passport to the bank staff. Also it’s advisable to exchange any roubles into your home currency before you leave Russia, as the exchange rate will more than likely be better here. For each exchange operation the bank or exchange office takes a commission of about 20 roubles.
ATM-machines (or cash machines) are becoming more and more popular in Russia, because more and more Russian people use debit and credit cards. As anywhere in the world, ATMs take a commission for each operation, thus it is better to take out larger amounts at once rather than pay this commission each time. In some hotels there are ATMs, where you can even exchange EUR or UDS into roubles.
