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RUSSIA'S ECONOMY

Russia’s National Payment Cards System considering acceptance of Mir cards in UAE

ST. PETERSBURG, July 13. /TASS/. Russia’s National Payment Cards System (NSPC) is discussing the initiative to provide acceptance of the Mir payment cards with the United Arab Emirates, NSPC Chief Executive Officer Vladimir Komlev said Thursday.

"We’re discussing it with the Arab Emirates. We’re mulling countries with a big tourist flow from Russia," he said when asked about the progress in talks regarding Mir cards acceptance.

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176 Russian banks join Mir payment system

According to Komlev, similar talks would be held in the Czech Republic soon. Also, he said, such countries as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and, probably, Tajikistan, may start accepting Mir in near future.

Earlier on Thursday Central Bank Chief Elvira Nabiullina said the regulator’s short-term target is to provide acceptance of the Mir payment cards within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

According to Nabiullina, 10.6 mln Mir cards have been issued as of now, with more than 2 mln issued over the past six weeks.

The need to develop a national payment system in Russia was prompted by the U.S. sanctions imposed in the spring of 2014. Due to the sanctions, the world’s two largest payment systems Visa and MasterCard blocked transactions with the cards of Russia’s Rossiya Bank, its subsidiary Sobinbank, and SMP Bank without any notice on March 21, 2014.

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