Russia's Mir Payment System Stops Functioning In Uzbekistan Amid Fears Of Breaking Sanctions.

Russia has vowed to expand its Mir payments system in so-called friendly countries as Western sanctions attempt to shut it out of international finance over its war against Ukraine.

Internationally issued payment cards by Russia's Mir reportedly have stopped functioning in Uzbekistan in the face of repeated warnings over failing to adhere to international sanctions against Moscow for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The RBK news agency, citing the Central Asian nation's UZCARD processing center, said on September 23 that Mir payment cards issued in Russia were not working, while those issued locally in Uzbekistan were still functioning.
Earlier this week, several banks in Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Vietnam suspended the use of Mir payment cards amid warnings by the U.S. Treasury Department about possible sanctions to be imposed on institutions supporting Russia's payment system outside of Russia.

Russia has vowed to expand its Mir payments system in so-called friendly countries as Western sanctions attempt to shut it out of international finance over its war against Ukraine.
On September 20, Reuters quoted a senior U.S. administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying that steps by Turkey's Isbank and Denizbank to suspend the use of Russian payment system Mir "make a lot of sense." "Cutting off Mir is one of the best ways to protect a bank from the sanctions risk that comes from doing business with Russia. We expect more banks to cut off Mir because they don’t want to risk being on the wrong side of the coalition’s sanctions," the official said.

With reporting by RBK and Reuters