The harsh economic sanctions imposed on the country caused a mass-chain of disruptions and have significantly impacted Russia’s access to certain goods, with bans on advanced technology being one of the most important.
The National Card Payment System (NSPK) has announced in April 2022 that there weren’t enough card chips to meet the country’s demand for issuing home-grown Mir banking cards, as European chip suppliers refused to work with sanctioned Russian banks. Moreover, with major card issuers like Mastercard and Visa suspending their operations across the country, the Moscow Government was not left with many solutions.
By reusing chips from un-activated cards, Mir has managed to save over USD 15 million, as 375,000 cards remain un-activated each month.
The NSPK has also turned to Chinese companies for supplies of microprocessors, amid the same sanctions imposed by Western governments and companies.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now