Has anyone sold property in Russia and bought in Italy? Through which bank is it actually possible to do this now? I’m specifically interested in transferring a large sum from the sale, not a mortgage.
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Raiffeisen officially confirmed — transfers to Italy via SWIFT are possible, minimum €20,000, maximum equivalent of $1,000,000. A purchase agreement for the apartment serves as proof of the legality of the funds — that’s exactly how they accepted it for us. You need to notify the Italian bank in advance about a large incoming transfer; they require this for large amounts. One more point — all real estate transactions in Italy go through a notary; the deposit (escrow payment) can be transferred directly to their account, which is usually with UniCredit or Raiffeisen.
Thanks, very helpful. And did you send via Raiffeisen from a Russian account directly in euros, or did you convert first? And which Italian bank ended up receiving the payment?
We converted rubles into euros directly at Raiffeisen via the brokerage — the notary at UniCredit accepted it.
An Italian bank formally blocks amounts over €100,000 in accounts belonging to Russian citizens.
In Turin, it passed through a transit account at a Georgian bank without any questions.
The question isn’t how to move the money — there are plenty of ways. The real question is how to legalize those funds. If you’re a tax resident of Italy, any large transfer into an account triggers scrutiny by the Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Agency). A sale and purchase agreement for the apartment is fine, but they’ll still ask you to prove that the tax on the sale was paid in your home country — otherwise they’ll assess it here.
Important detail about the notary — you need to find one who is willing to accept money directly from a foreign account; not all of them do. My notary in Turin, in addition to the sale-and-purchase agreement, requested three months of bank statements and a written explanation of where the money came from. The contract itself doesn’t close everything — be prepared for additional paperwork.
The seller’s account is a separate matter — with the notary everything is documented and the bank understands where the money is coming from. A direct transfer to the seller’s personal account is just a plain incoming transfer from Russia, without any context. I asked at the local bank; they say that’s exactly why they block it — there’s no supporting documentation.