ArmInfo.Russia is working to resume the launch of Mir cards in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. As TASS reports, stated by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Alexander Pankin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
At the same time, he explained that Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are under pressure from the West.
According to him, Western countries are trying to find various weak points in their interaction with the world. "That's why they step on this sore spot. We'll see, we still hope for the best," Pankin said.
On the night of March 30, Armenian banks, which are members of the national payment system Armenian Card (ArCa), stopped servicing Russian Mir cards. The National Payment Card System (NPC), operator of Mir cards, confirmed that it has received an official notification from the payment system of Armenia that its member banks will stop servicing Russian cards as of March 30, a NSPK representative told Vedomosti. "Mir" cards have been working in Armenia since 2017 within the framework of the joint project of the NSPK and the Armenian Card, national cards were mutually accepted in the infrastructures of the two countries: ArCa - in Russia, "Mir" - in Armenia. Also, a number of Armenian banks issued co-branded ArCa-Mir cards.
Now you can pay with Russian cards in Abkhazia, Belarus, and South Ossetia. In several other countries, Mir cards do not work everywhere - these are Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Also in 2023, Russian cards began to be accepted in Venezuela (through the largest local acquiring bank Banco de Venezuela) and Cuba. In mid-March, Kazakhstan's Bereke Bank announced the termination of interaction with the Russian NSPK.
The Kremlin did not regard the refusal of Armenian banks to service Mir cards as an unfriendly step. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov explained this step by pressure on Yerevan from the West and added that Russia will continue to work with Armenia in order to correct the situation. Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova noted that the Armenian economy will suffer significant losses in this regard, citizens of the country will face serious inconveniences, and it will become more difficult for Armenians working in the Russian Federation to transfer money to their homeland.
"Tourists are also losing the opportunity to pay with cards. Last year, let me remind you, their number exceeded 1 million people. There are other examples of how this will hit the Armenian economy. I am sure that, unfortunately, the costs of this step will be higher than the hypothetical damage from Western restrictions," Zakharova concluded.
