MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Thousands of people in Moldova’s Gagauz autonomy have applied for bank cards linked to Russia’s Mir payment system too receive allowances, Gagauzia’s leader, Yevgenia Gutsul, said.
"We are in the process of data processing. We have some 5,000-7,000 applications mostly from welfare recipients and government employees. They applied for extra allowances. We plan to begin [payments] from May 1," she said, adding that she hope that the Moldovan government will not block these initiatives.
She said earlier that an agreement had been reached with Russia’s Promsvyazbank on the remote issuance of Mir card to transfer allowances for the vulnerable population that were promised during her election campaign. According to Gutsul, retirees and government employees will be paid monthly allowances of 2,000 leu (slightly more than 100 euro) from off-budget funds. Around 25,000 people in Gagauzia, including 20,000 retirees and 5,000 government employees, may use Mir cards.
Meanwhile, Moldova’s National Bank said that Russian Mir cards cannot be used in Moldova after it joined the anti-Russian sanctions in the banking sector. Gutsul noted, however, the Mir cards are used in the unrecognized republic of Transnistria. Moreover, in her words, Moldova and Russia are still maintaining faster payment systems.