Some Kyrgyz private commercial banks refuse to service Russian cards due to mercantile petty interests, the state cannot influence this. Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Edil Baisalov said in an interview with NEWS.ru, answering the question why problems arise with Mir card, given that the Kyrgyz Republic speaks of an interest in attracting Russian specialists.
«Private commercial banks pursue mercantile petty interests. The state cannot influence them in any way, we cannot regulate this,» Edil Baisalov said.
Despite this, according to him, the authorities have found a way to circumvent such obstacles. It is «a complete transfer of payments into rubles, so that there are no third currencies,» the official explained.
In February, the United States imposed blocking sanctions against the operator of Mir cards — the National Payment Card System of Russia (NPCS). At the time of the introduction of restrictions, Mir cards, in addition to Armenia, worked (depending on the terminal; they could not be used everywhere) in Kazakhstan, Belarus, Venezuela, Vietnam, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Cuba. But Kyrgyz banks have significantly reduced the functionality of using Mir cards in the republic. Earlier, for example, the Kazakh Bereke Bank, a former subsidiary of Sberbank, reported the termination of work with Mir cards.
In early April, Interbank Processing Center CJSC announced the termination of servicing of Mir bank cards in its infrastructure from April 5, 2024.
The servicing was terminated due to the termination of relations with NPCS. The decision was made to minimize the risk of secondary sanctions.
