Cuba readying itself for launch of Mir payment system

MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - Cuba is working to introduce the Russian Mir payment system, which would ease travel to the country for tourists from Russia, a tourism advisor at the Cuban Embassy to Russia told Interfax on Friday.

"Cuba is working to launch Mir payment system, this will make it easier for Russian tourists to pay for services, buy gifts and souvenirs with the card," Cristina Leon Iznaga said.

Creating the conditions for Russians is very important for Cuba because they are an important market for the republic, she said.

Earlier, Cuban authorities had said that the Mir system would be launched by the end 2022.

On September 15, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control published an explanation saying that non-U.S. financial institutions, which transacted business with the Russian National Payment Cards System (NSPK), risked finding themselves caught in an act of circumventing U.S. sanctions by expanding the area for the use of Mir cards outside Russia.