Three Turkish banks plan to exit the Russian payment system “Mir” due to warnings of economic sanctions.
Turkiye Halk Bankası, TC Ziraat Bankası and Turkiye Vakıflar Bankasi plan to stop processing payments using this system, following similar decisions by two of Turkey’s leading private banks.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week discussed alternatives to the system with his top finance officials, who had also held discussions with their Russian counterparts.
Erdogan has so far not joined Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has served as a broker in a UN-backed grain deal.
However, Mir’s suspensions mark a subtle shift in his neutral stance after he traveled to the United States for the UN General Assembly.
Turkey, a popular destination for Russians fleeing the war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s call for mobilization this month, is expected to announce an official decision on the “Mir” cards within this week.
More than half of Russia’s population is estimated to have a “Mir” card, which Russia began developing in 2015 to bypass Western sanctions.
Some banks in other Russia-friendly countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, have also suspended use of the system. Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan remain the few countries that still accept “Mir” cards.
Mir’s suspensions limit the ability of Russian citizens abroad to conduct cashless transactions after Western sanctions rendered their Russian-issued Visa and MasterCard unusable.
The US Treasury Department this month warned banks outside the United States that the deal with “Mir” would “risk supporting Russia’s efforts to evade US sanctions”.
Following Turkey’s suspension, Vietnam and South Korea remain the only non-Soviet nations to accept Mir.