It's fine as long as the game isn't region locked.
Comment has been collapsed.
Games that they don't want traded over certain borders are locked to the region they are purchased in (see comments above this one :P).
If there is no region lock, you are fine to trade/activate the game. Valve has never made a rule to prevent this and there are tons of these kinds of trades done every day.
Comment has been collapsed.
If Valve didn't want it to happen, they would prevent it from happening with mandatory region locks etc. Everything that is bought through Steam gives them money, so if people want to buy lots of Russian versions of games, Valve are ok with it. I'm sure they don't support it, but they obviously don't mind it happening.
Comment has been collapsed.
Actually, I've seen reports of Russians getting banned for cross-border game/keys trading. Apparently, support thinks that cross-border trading violates the "non-commercial use" rule in SSA, regardless of the payment method - Paypal, keys, items, etc. Not sure to what extent those reports are true, however, and what happens to the buyers.
Comment has been collapsed.
I don't think publishers love very much steam trading capability (every countries has regional prices, not just the CIS ones and Russia) but safety of trading doesn't depends on nationality, that would not be acceptable.
Comment has been collapsed.
At least in Europe (which is your region) it is like this:
The one who buys pretty many games from regions with cheaper prices with the intention to sell them (commercial use) and not to activate them himself (e.g. Russian traders) are not allowed to do so. They can even get punishments for it. The one who buys a game for a cheaper price, even if he knows it is from a cheaper region (e.g. you, non-commercial use), is allowed to do so.
This is also why many DVDs state "Not for commercial use" ;)
Comment has been collapsed.
4 Comments - Last post 1 minute ago by Mitsukuni
11 Comments - Last post 2 minutes ago by DaveFerret
15,539 Comments - Last post 8 minutes ago by MarvashMagalli
22 Comments - Last post 19 minutes ago by CelticBatman
16 Comments - Last post 53 minutes ago by CelticBatman
2,197 Comments - Last post 59 minutes ago by CheeseTuber
77 Comments - Last post 1 hour ago by freshduke
2,358 Comments - Last post 14 minutes ago by CelticBatman
87 Comments - Last post 16 minutes ago by NymCast
47 Comments - Last post 18 minutes ago by mikotomaki
26,744 Comments - Last post 18 minutes ago by Bydofied
8 Comments - Last post 24 minutes ago by Lugum
90 Comments - Last post 24 minutes ago by SyrslyTwitch
112 Comments - Last post 29 minutes ago by Mitsukuni
I'm wondering if there is any official statement on safety of trading with Russians, in the context of Steam trade via Steamtrades.com etc. Since Valve is against buying games in different region, do they take any steps against trades through Steam trade for TF2 keys from buyers perspective? Thanks.
Comment has been collapsed.