Dubai Airport re‑welcomes rubles: The payment option is anything but cheap

RIA Novosti reports that since August, it has been possible to pay with rubles in the duty-free zone at Dubai Airport. According to the Russian news agency, the airport accepts cash and card payments. At this stage, estimating the demand for this currency is difficult.

The duty-free shops at Dubai Airport have started accepting Russian currency - writes the pro-Kremlin news agency RIA Novosti, citing an interview with a representative of one of the retail outlets and an employee of the information desk at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport.

It's worth noting that rubles are accepted, but the exchange is done at the dirham rate.

Based on the exchange rate from 4 August, one UAE dirham is worth 23 rubles. However, writes RIA Novosti, the exchange is conducted at a different rate in the duty-free zone at Dubai Airport. For example, a water bottle worth two dirhams will cost one hundred rubles.

The owner of the retail point explained in an interview with RIA Novosti that it has been possible to pay in rubles since 1st August of this year. However, for technical reasons, he added, this option is not yet available in every store, making it difficult to assess the demand for payments in Russian currency.

According to RIA Novosti, it will soon be possible to buy goods with rubles in all Duty-Free stores.

A Duty-Free customer service centre representative told RIA Novosti that this applies to both cash and card payments. As the news agency's correspondent noted, prices in rubles are not yet shown on price tags.