So far, it is foreigners who are buying dollars most actively, but Russians could follow their example soon. Foreign currency, especially dollars, have always been seen as a safe investment in Russia. However, as a result of the dollar’s weakening against the ruble at the beginning of the year and fluctuations in the euro’s exchange rate, Russians started buying less foreign currency, preferring to keep their money in rubles.

This situation continued throughout the winter, but it seems to have changed in the spring. According to the Central Bank, the demand for foreign cash exceeded supply in March, for the first time this year.

Russians brought $900m in foreign cash into Russia, while they took $200m out of the country. They brought 5.7 times more dollars than in February, and 1.5 times more euros. It was largely due to individuals exchanging rubles for foreign currency. Mostly they were foreigners living in Russia. Their demand for dollars increased to $870m.

Meanwhile, Russians continued to sell dollars. They sold $400m dollars more than they bought. In March alone, the inflow of dollar cash into Russia increased 15 percent compared with February.

Central Bank analysts say this is due to the fact that banks have been cutting interest rates on ruble-denominated deposits since the start of the year, after the ruble started strengthening, which frightened off some clients. This is unlikely because foreigners do not usually have ruble-denominated deposits. But we can assume that the demand for dollars will rise.