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Central Bank doesn’t see risks of Russia being unplugged from Western payment systems

On Tuesday, the Kremlin spokesman said that he did not exclude the risk of Russia’s disconnection from Western payment systems

MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia does not see any risks of Moscow being disconnected from Western payment systems, the regulator’s Deputy Chief Olga Skorobogatova told reporters on Wednesday. She noted that the current situation with geopolitical risks is quite calm.

On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he did not exclude the risk of Russia’s disconnection from Western payment systems, given the unfriendly attitude towards the country from a number of states.

"Our response since 2014 is that we have created working infrastructures that minimize geopolitical risks. As for the current situation, I think it is quite calm. We do not see any risks of disconnection from international payment systems and I believe that it would be very unprofitable [to disconnect Russia] for those systems too," she stressed.

Skorobogatova emphasized that the regulator will continue to develop national [payment] services and systems.

"We should continue our work on developing our own payment systems and infrastructure platforms. But at the same time, as I noted before, it is also very important for us to maintain a competitive environment. We want Russian companies to develop under conditions of competition and clinch their victories for being the best and without having any special preferences," she stressed. Skorobogatova noted that in terms of security, Russia’s infrastructure market in the segment of payment systems is protected.