The Kazakhstani financial market regulator said on Friday that the U.S. The Treasury Department has informed banks in Kazakhstan that it does not object to Russians in Kazakhstan using Russia’s Mir payment cards.
Due to sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the suspension of operations in Russia by American payment companies Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., as well as the inability of Russian-issued cards to be used abroad, Mir cards have become increasingly important to Russians.
The Kazakhstani financial market regulator said in a statement that the American agency “clarified that it has no problem with the use of Mir bank cards by private individuals, especially nationals who have migrated from Russia to Kazakhstan, to undertake life-sustaining transactions.” The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department
Although the National Card Payment System (NSPK), which runs Mir, and the Bank of Russia itself have not been sanctioned, the United States in September sanctioned the NSPK’s chief executive.
According to the Kazakh agency, care would be taken to ensure that the Mir system wasn’t used to circumvent sanctions.
In order to prevent it from being used to get over anti-Russian sanctions, it was said that “operations with this payment method will stay under special control.”
Mir cards are accepted by Kazakh banks for purchases and transfers, and they can also be used to get cash from ATMs.
According to their own internal risk assessment systems and strategic development plans, Kazakh banks will independently decide whether to join the Mir system, the agency said.
Relations between the former Soviet republic and Moscow have deteriorated as a result of Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s vocal opposition to Russia’s territorial claims in Ukraine made by Vladimir Putin.
Despite obstacles from abroad, Russia’s central bank is determined to extend the reach of Mir, which in Russian means “world” or “peace.”
After the US placed the NSPK leader on its sanctions list, banks in supposedly friendly nations including Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan stopped processing transactions involving Mir.
The NSPK, which manages Mir, has stopped revealing information on the nations that accept Mir bank cards.
