MADRID, Spain.- The Russian Government is working to achieve the launch in Cuba of the Mir (World) cards, belonging to the National Payment Card System (NSPK), assured the first vice president of the Central Bank of Russia, Olga Skorobogatova.
“There are several countries that would like to cooperate with us. For example, Cuba is one of the latest projects we are currently working on. In other words, our citizens will be able to use the Mir card in Cuba,” Skorobogatova specified.
According to the official media Latin Pressduring a work meeting of the State Duma, the minister also pointed out that two other countries are negotiating with Moscow to implement this system, although she did not specify which ones.
The Mir card is the Russian equivalent to the international Visa and MasterCard cards and was created in 2016 with the aim of avoiding electronic payment blocks, after the US companies Visa and MasterCard denied services to several banks due to sanctions. Russians. Currently the MIR system is accepted mainly by Russian companies such as Aeroflot or Russian Railways and in countries such as Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
According to Juan Carlos Escalona, Tourism Counselor of the Cuban Embassy in Russia, the use of these cards in Cuba will represent “an important step towards the reopening of tourism.”
“Visitors from the Eurasian nation will be able to pay for their services on the Island with Mir as soon as flights between the two countries resume,” he added.
With the acceptance of this system, the Cuban Government is preparing the bases for when normality is restored in flights from Russia, canceled last February as consequence of the invasion of Ukraine.
The Government of Havana expected Russians to represent up to 20% of international tourist arrivals in 2022; goal that has been frustrated by the conflict unleashed with the Russian attacks.
According to official data, in 2020 a total of 146,151 tourists from Russia arrived in Cuba. While in mid-2021 more than half of registered tourists were Russians.
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