Russian companies pay up to nine times more for access to foreign AI models compared to direct developer pricing. Intermediaries attribute these markups to the costs of processing ruble payments, ensuring service stability, and managing legal compliance.
The Nodul platform analyzed costs based on a scenario of 2 million input and 10 million output tokens. Calculations used an exchange rate of 82 rubles per $1, excluding taxes and discounts.
The highest markup was observed for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash via Yandex AI Studio, costing 4,000 rubles compared to 443 rubles directly. Access to Anthropic Claude Opus 5.5 through local providers costs 14,200 rubles versus 6,500 rubles.
Providers like ITGlobal.com and Cloud.ru emphasize that they handle international transactions, commissions, and document workflows. They also provide access without VPNs and offer data protection guarantees.
Yandex AI Studio noted that their platform also hosts domestic models, which are 31 percent cheaper than foreign alternatives. Meanwhile, companies like Ensign have opted to deploy local open-source models on workstations to reduce costs.
