Paying a supplier in the Emirates from Russia: dirhams or dollars, free zone licenses, bank questions on re-export, lunar holidays. Rate and fee before debit.
Estimate the minimum fee
The final fee and rate are fixed in the payment order
Minimum amount: 10,000 USD or equivalent
This is a minimum, not an offer or a rate lock. The final figure depends on the country, amount and the banks involved and is fixed in the payment order.
Request a quoteFor Russian imports, the UAE is first of all a trading hub. Companies in Dubai and the neighboring emirates resell machinery, electronics, cars and car parts, equipment and consumer goods from China, India and Europe. The contract is signed with a company in the Emirates, while the goods travel from a third country or from a free zone warehouse near the port. Besides goods, local companies are paid for logistics, freight forwarding, marketing and development.
The dirham (AED) has been pegged to the US dollar since the late 1990s, so UAE companies readily invoice in both currencies, and sometimes in euros. For the supplier, the difference between them is small. What matters more is the currency in which its account is held.
A UAE account is written as a 23-character IBAN: the letters AE, two check digits, a three-digit bank code and a sixteen-digit account number. A SWIFT code is needed alongside it. If the IBAN on the invoice differs from the one in the supplier’s email, we first find out why, and only then prepare the payment order.
Every company in the Emirates operates under a trade license. Mainland companies obtain it from the economic department of their emirate, free zone companies from the zone authority, hence the forms FZE, FZCO and FZ-LLC. The license lists the permitted activities. If the company is registered for consulting and the invoice is for electronics, the beneficiary’s bank will stop the transfer. We ask for a copy of the license before you sign the agency agreement and check it against the subject of the contract. The VAT registration number (TRN) on the invoice also helps with the check.
Banks in the Emirates check incoming payments connected with Russia in detail. They ask where the goods come from, where they will go and who the end buyer is. A bill of lading or an air waybill, a certificate of origin and a specification help the supplier answer. Request them in advance. We write the payment reference without generic wording: contract number, invoice number, goods.
Trading companies in the Emirates usually work with a new buyer on full prepayment: they buy the goods from the manufacturer themselves. Sometimes they ask for an advance with the order and the balance before the cargo is released from the warehouse. Each such amount goes under a separate payment order within one agency agreement.
We choose an agent from our pool to match the bank where the beneficiary holds its account in the Emirates: we take the one whose route in dirhams or dollars works on the payment date. The rate and the fee are set out in the payment order, and you see them before the debit. On request, the roubles wait in a special escrow account at a Russian bank until the supplier is credited, for an additional fee. The client does not pay VEDmost: the agent pays out the broker’s fee.
Since 2022, the weekend in the UAE has been Saturday and Sunday. Banks are closed for Eid al-Fitr after Ramadan and for Eid al-Adha. The dates of these holidays move about eleven days earlier each year with the lunar calendar, and the exact days are announced shortly before. During Ramadan the working day is shorter. Another long break is National Day in early December.
Five steps, the same for every country. Country specifics are described above.
Beneficiary's country, amount, currency, the invoice and the contract or bill, your company's and the beneficiary's details. We review the request before any documents are signed.
We select a network company and a route and prepare the documents. You sign an agency agreement with that company, which sets the execution period, and a payment order: amount, exchange rate and fee. All of this before you transfer your roubles.
You transfer roubles to the network company from your account at a Russian bank. If you need a guarantee, they wait for execution in a special escrow account, for an additional fee.
The agent sends the currency to the beneficiary under this payment order. A sub-agent is engaged only with your consent. The route does not change without a payment order.
We send you the payment confirmation, and a SWIFT confirmation on request. Then the completion certificate, the agent's report and the currency control package. The deal is not closed until the currency has been sent to the beneficiary.
If you need a guarantee, the payment goes through a special escrow account at a Russian bank: the roubles wait there until the agent sends the currency to the beneficiary and are released only upon execution. This scheme carries an additional fee, shown in the quote before the agreement.
The agent executes the payment within 3 business days: the period is written into the agency agreement.
If the beneficiary's bank accepts payment only from a specific payer, the agent engages a sub-agent. Only with your consent. Your agency agreement does not change.
For large volumes, on request, we assign an agent backed by a large exporter's surety; some companies in our network have one. It can be combined with escrow.
Tell us the rate you pay now or send your current agent’s documents. We’ll calculate the all-in cost with the FX markup and charges and look for a lower rate in our network. If there isn’t one, we’ll say so. The comparison is free.
The dirham is pegged to the dollar, so for the supplier the difference is small. What decides it is the currency of the supplier's account and the route to its bank on the payment date. If the currency has to change, the supplier reissues the invoice.
The free zone license and the list of activities in it. If the license was issued for consulting and the invoice is for electronics, the beneficiary's bank will ask questions or stop the transfer.
UAE banks check where the goods come from and where they are going, especially in re-export. Shipping and origin documents answer these questions, so it makes sense to request them from the supplier before payment.
Yes, if the service is described in the contract and covered by the contractor's license. An invoice for a month or for a stage is paid under a separate payment order.
On Saturdays and Sundays, on Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, whose dates shift every year with the lunar calendar, and on National Day in early December.
Describe the payment. We'll reply with a proposed route and terms. We name the agent in advance, and the rate and fee go into the payment order before your roubles are debited.