Wednesday, March 20 2024 15:09

ArmInfo.The relevant agencies of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the government as a whole are  engaged in the issue of clarifying the situation related to the suspension of the MIR payment system in Armenia. On March 20 during a weekly briefing, spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said, answering a corresponding question.

"We saw the corresponding message and explanations from the Armenian  side on this issue. This requires additional clarification, which is  what our department is doing now. The relevant departments and the  government as a whole," she said.

On March 19 it became known that the link between the national card  systems of Armenia and Russia - ArCa and MIR - will be suspended from  March 30. 

As the National Payment System (NPS) Armenian Card told ArmInfo, the  regulator has decided to temporarily suspend the acquiring of ArCa  cards issued by Armenian banks on the territory of the Russian  Federation and, on the contrary, the acquiring of NSPK cards on  the territory of Armenia.

In Armenia, only MIR cards issued by VTB Bank (Armenia) will be  serviced and exclusively in the ATM and POS network of this bank. To  date, the bank has issued over 188 thousand MIR cards, including  pension cards. The bank's service infrastructure includes 201 ATMs  and 54 POS terminals. The bank's branch network consists of 53  branches.

Notably, market participants expected a similar situation after the  US adopted the 13th package of sanctions restrictions in February,  which also included the Russian NSPK . According to market  analysts, in connection with the above decision, an ambiguous  situation will arise in the payment market of Armenia.  Apparently,  part of the funds from VTB (Armenia) cards will be transferred to NPS  Armenian Card cards, however, in parallel, some relocants working in  Armenia will prefer to open additional card accounts with VTB  (Armenia) to transfer funds to and from Russia. Armenian banks will  also suffer some losses; the situation will also affect the  restriction of financial flows of small export-import firms, as well  as the volume of private transfers.