KUTA, Indonesia, March 9 (Reuters) – When Russian tourist Konstantin Ivanov tried to withdraw money from his personal bank account at an ATM on the Indonesian island of Bali, the transaction was blocked.

Unprecedented sanctions against Russian banks following its invasion of Ukraine are weighing heavily on its citizens abroad, who must scramble to find cash or turn to crypto transactions to get by.

“It created a huge problem for us. We were completely stripped of our finances – it’s like they’ve been completely frozen and we can’t use them at all here,” said Ivanov, 27, adding that he might have to look for a job in Indonesia.

The Russian embassy in the capital Jakarta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bali is a popular holiday destination with Russian tourists, who flocked to the island in the tens of thousands before the pandemic and were among the first to return when borders partially reopened last year.

About 1,150 Russians entered Indonesia in January 2022, according to data from the statistics office.

Rifki Saldi Yanto, the manager of a local cafe, said he has noticed a drop in the number of Russian customers in recent days and many are now paying cash instead of credit card.

Meanwhile, more than 7,000 Russians were stranded in Thailand, another popular beach destination, due to flight cancellations, a plummeting ruble and payment issues. L3N2VB1KZ

The Russian economy is facing its worst crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, after Western countries decided in recent days to isolate it from the global financial system. The international payment system SWIFT disconnected several Russian banks from its network, while Visa and Mastercard said they were blocking the use abroad of their cards issued by Russian banks from March 9. read more

Reporting by Sultan Anshori; Additional reporting by Pedja Stanisic and Sunil Kataria; Written by Angie Teo; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Alexandra Hudson

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.