Russia making efforts to resume launch of Mir cards in Armenia,  Kyrgyzstan 

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.