Tens Of Thousands Of Russians In Israel Have Lost Their Russian Pensions

Problems with cross-border transfers arose after the sanctions were imposed.

Tens of thousands of Russians living in Israel are unable to receive their Russian pensions directly, according to "Izvestia". Problems with cross-border transfers arose after sanctions were imposed on Russian banks in 2022. Moscow and Jerusalem are currently discussing the possibility of resuming payments. According to Knesset Deputy Speaker Yevgeny Sova, nearly 40,000 people are not receiving their Russian pensions.

The problem affects several categories of pensioners. About 52,500 recipients of Russian pensions lived in Israel. Of these, 16,600 received payments within Russia, 18,300 received payments into accounts at Israeli banks, and another 17,600 received payments under an agreement between Russia and Israel on cooperation in the field of social security.

Pension payments stopped coming due to issues with U.S. and EU sanctions—Israeli banks ceased doing business with most Russian financial institutions because of the sanctions in 2022, and in early 2025, pension transfers stopped passing through the chain involving Gazprombank and its correspondent bank in Luxembourg.

The Russian Embassy in Israel reported that Moscow and Jerusalem have held several rounds of consultations. The parties discussed switching from dollar transfers to other currencies, but have not yet been able to implement this option. “Work is ongoing,” the embassy said. Yevgeny Sova believes that one possible solution could be a special permit or guarantees from the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel to a local bank to conduct transactions with Russian pension funds. At a Knesset committee meeting in June 2026, the possibility of applying an Israeli payment mechanism for repatriates who are unable to receive pensions from their countries of origin was also discussed.

The problem with Russian pension transfers is not limited to Israel. In August 2025, the Russian Social Fund reported that payment issues had arisen in Lithuania and Bulgaria. The RSF announced the resumption of pension transfers to Latvia and Estonia starting in the third quarter of 2025. In December, the fund also announced that it had transferred payments to recipients of Russian pensions in Bulgaria—5,700 people received approximately 5 million euros for 2025.

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