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Russian bitcoin companies should work in other jurisdictions or introduce strict anti-money laundering (AML) measures. This is the opinion of lawyer Artem Tolkachev, who presented his views at the Bitcoin Conference Moscow.

The managing partner of Tolkachev and Partners said that the current blocking of bitcoin websites by Russian authorities is against the law.

“I cannot foresee which measure the government will invent against the bitcoin community next. If any company here is still registered in Russia, you should change your jurisdiction immediately. If you do not plan to do so, you need to introduce anti-money laundering measures”.

The lawyer believes that Russian citizens should be very careful with their bitcoins:

“There is a small chance that the government could find bitcoins that belong to individuals. The risk is minimal. Bitcoins now are not as expensive as they were a year ago. I would recommend selling them”.

The bill banning bitcoin in Russia may come to a vote in autumn, says Tolkachev, and may begin to be enforced very soon after the vote.

Michael Chobanian, a representative of the Ukrainian bitcoin community,  was also present at the Moscow Bitcoin Conference. He said that the government of Ukraine is imitating Russia in its actions against bitcoin:

“There is no regulation now. The anti-bitcoin letter issued by the National Bank of Ukraine was copied from the Russian one. It also states that bitcoin is a surrogate [currency]”

Chobanian noted that the bitcoin community in Ukraine is ready to start a dialogue with the state.

The Moscow Bitcoin Conference is being held today in the capital of Russia. CoinFox is reporting it live on Twitter and will present an overview by the end of this very busy day.