The scene is an upmarket fashion store in Florence. A cheery middle-aged Russian couple have finished selecting their clothes and are ready to pay. The man brings out a roll of freshly minted €100 notes and starts to peel them one by one on to the counter. Russians, even those with foreign bank accounts, cannot pay by card because of sanctions imposed by Britain, the EU and the US in response to Russia’s . ‘How many of these can we accept?’ calls out the assistant as the crisp green notes pile up in front of her. limits the amount of cash used to pay for a single transaction ‒ a ceiling imposed to curb tax evasion. The manageress appears and a solution is reached. The man and the woman divide their purchases to stay within the €2,000 limit and walk out smiling with two bags that bulge with elegant designer garments.
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