In the first five months of this year, the Moldovans working abroad sent home more than $600 million, a sum comparable to the remittances for seven months of 2007, Info-Prim Neo learned from the National Bank of Moldova (NBM). According to the NBM, the largest amounts of remittances were sent from Russia and Italy. Western Union accounts for about a half of the money transfers, which totaled $456.5 million in five months. In 2007 commercial banks were used by Moldovans to send home roughly $1.22 billion; in 2006 Moldovans sent home $854.6 million, and in 2005 – $683.25 million.