Resuming full-fledged operation of Russian Mir cards in Uzbekistan is still being studied, and no related regulatory documents have been issued, a representative of the country's Central Bank told RIA Novosti on Friday.
Earlier, the press service of the Kazakhstan Agency for the Regulation and Development of Financial Markets reported that the Office for Foreign Assets Control, a division of the US Department of the Treasury (OFAC), informed Kazakhstani regulatory authorities that it did not object to transactions in Kazakhstan using Mir cards.
Reportedly, the Uzbek Central Bank had not yet received documents or information similar to the OFAC’s notification to Kazakhstan.
In early November, the governor of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, Mamarizo Nurmuratov, told reporters that the country's commercial banks saw risks in servicing Mir cards, and it was not on the table to resume its operation yet.
Since September 23, the Uzcard has suspended accepting cards of the Russian Mir in Uzbekistan, including co-badged ones abroad, for technical reasons. At the same time, Uzcard-Mir co-badged cards are operating as usual in the country.
After the US Treasury announced its readiness to impose sanctions for entities collaborating with the Mir payment system, problems with the use of Russian cards ocurred in many countries, including Turkey, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
