Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to report that the RIPE NCC has expanded its payment options to all RIPE NCC members this year to include PayPal and VISA virtual credit cards.
This change is the result of last year's discussions at ENOG 2 and on the mailing list that the RIPE NCC investigate different payment options for RIPE NCC members in Russia.
After investigating several methods, it became clear that PayPal and virtual credit cards would be the most suitable alternative payment options at this time.
Other options, like opening a local bank account in Russia in RUB or EUR or opening a bank in the Netherlands in RUB to facilitate payments in local currency would not decrease the complexity and costs of payments to the RIPE NCC since this would be seen as an international transfer. Russian members informed us that local Russian payments can only be made to organisations registered in Russia. Our Executive Board decided that the RIPE NCC will not pursue a registration in Russia at this point in time as this would result in a high overhead and cost.
The RIPE NCC values input from our members and is open to investigating other feasible payment options. If you have any further suggestions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Jochem de Ruig RIPE NCC