Ankara and the Kremlin are now working to develop an alternative payment system to replace Russia’s Mir system, after the United States threatened Türkiye with sanctions for facilitating the use of MIR cards, according to Russia’s ambassador to Türkiye, Aleksey Yerkhov.

The Central Bank of Russia created the Mir payment system in 2014 to replace the use of Visa and Mastercard, following the first round of Western economic sanctions imposed on Moscow, which led to the deactivation of Western credit cards in Russia.

The Mir cards were accepted in Vietnam, Armenia, South Korea, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia. In early August 2022, five banks in Türkiye adopted the Mir system, allowing Russia tourists to use their cards to pay for purchases while in vacation in the country.

However in support of broader Western sanctions leveled against Russia, the US Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) recently announced that it was prepared to impose sanctions on any non-Russian financial institution which allowed the use of the Mir system, claiming there was a “risk of facilitating Russia’s efforts to evade sanctions.”

Following the issuance of the threat, banks in Türkiye, Kazakhstan, and Vietnam all halted use of the Mir payment system.

According to the Russian ambassador, “the work [on an alternative to Mir] is underway but it’s too early to announce results,” noting that one factor entering into the decision-making was the upcoming tourism season, and how best Türkiye can facilitate payments from Russian tourists.

The head of the Russian-Turkish Business Council Alexey Yegarmin, in a separate interview has predicted the new payment system may come online by the summer.