Mir payment system now operational in Venezuela - Novak

MOSCOW. Oct 16 (Interfax) - The Mir payment system has begun operating in Venezuela, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said following the 17th meeting of the Russia-Venezuela intergovernmental commission.

"The Mir payment system is now operating on the territory of Venezuela, at more than 80,000 terminals," Novak said.

Currently, information about the countries where Mir cards are accepted is not available on the website of the National Payment Card System (NSPK). As of early September 2022, Mir cards were accepted in 11 countries: Turkey, Vietnam, South Korea, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In March 2023, NSPK announced the start of Mir card operations at ATMs in Cuba.

The CEO of NSPK, Vladimir Komlev, said in June of this year that the company was negotiating to have Mir cards accepted in five or six countries popular with Russian tourists. However, he did not specify which countries the company was working with due to the high risk of secondary sanctions against NSPK partners.