/ world today news/ “On December 8, a letter was received from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a division of the US Treasury Department (OFAC), in which the US Department explained that it does not object to the use of MIR system bank cards by persons, namely citizens who migrated from Russia to Kazakhstan, to carry out operations that ensure their livelihood,” – reported the press service of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market. According to the document, “operations with this payment system will remain under special control to prevent its use to circumvent anti-Russian sanctions.”
This certainly means that the transactions of the Russians will be monitored by the interested party, primarily by the Americans.
It is also reported that the banks of Kazakhstan have the right to independently decide to connect to the Mir system.
The American wording for “the use of the card by individuals” raises more questions than it gives answers, believes Stanislav Pritchin, senior researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies at IMEMO RAN, author of the telegram channel Caspian Khoja Nasreddin:
„It will be difficult to imagine on what basis the people who are entitled to use the Mir card will be selected. It is not clear whether this will work systematically – that is, all Mir cards will work in banks in Kazakhstan, or it will be available only to those who have a residence permit or temporary registration in the country.
The concessions made by the Americans are aimed primarily at supporting and winning the loyalty of those who voted “with your feet” against the CBO”, stressed S. Pritchin:
„… no one has lifted the sanctions regime and there is no prospect of sanctions being reduced or lifted. Globally, much will depend on how the new measure is implemented in practice. If Kazakh banks really return to using the Mir payment system, this will be a positive signal for the return of its use in Central Asia.”
Earlier, in September 2022, Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan (Halyk Bank) stopped accepting Mir cards, followed by credit institutions in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Translation: ES
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