16 Sep 2022 11:25

Russian Central Bank intends to continue discussing with foreign partners expanding area where Mir cards accepted

MOSCOW. Sept 16 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) intends to continue discussing with foreign partners expanding the area where Mir cards are accepted, the regulator said in a comment on the clarifications of the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

"Foreign partners themselves decide to open their infrastructure for accepting Mir cards. Meantime, we intend to continue discussing expanding the area where Mir cards are accepted," the CBR said in the statement.

The CBR notes that Mir cards, as well as other National Payment Card System (NSPK) services - which include resident cards, as well as social, student and transport cards, the loyalty program, and others - continue to operate in Russia as usual.

OFAC on Thursday released a document to clarify that non-U.S. financial institutions that enter into agreements with the NSPK risk being involved in actions to circumvent United States sanctions by expanding the territory of use of the Mir payment system outside the Russian Federation. Meantime, the OFAC document specified that the NSPK itself was not on the sanctions lists. OFAC added NSPK general director Vladimir Komlev to the list of blocking sanctions at the same time as publishing the clarification document.