MOSCOW, June 17./ITAR-TASS/. International payment system MasterCard has announced a tender to choose a provider of interbank processing services which will clear and authorize credit card transactions in Russia, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

A contestant must be registered with the central bank of Russia and must have its own local processing service centre, according to the statement.

In May, President Vladimir Putin signed a law to establish a national payment system after Visa and MasterCard blocked servicing of some Russian banks’ cards in line with the US and EU sanctions against the country.

Soon after the new law was signed, Visa and MasterCard were told to pay deposits amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars with Russia’s Central Bank in order to continue operating in the country. The companies and Russian authorities later agreed that Visa and MasterCard will establish affiliates in Russia and pay no deposits.