Moscow and Ankara are considering the possibility of using Turkey's Troy payment system as an alternative to Russia's Mir system in Turkey, Aydınlık reported on Wednesday.
According to the newspaper, the issue is discussed by the parties at the level of the Central Bank. According to it, "certain progress on the issue was outlined at the 15th meeting of the Central Banks of Turkey and Russia held yesterday (Tuesday) in Kazan."
The central banks of the two countries are holding routine talks on the use of the national currency in payment for energy supplies, protection of national financial systems from sanctions and, possibly, creation of a swap line, the newspaper reports. According to the close circle of the head of the Central Bank of Turkey, Sahap Kavcıoglu, who supports trading between the two countries in the national currencies, he also favored the use of Troy cards, the newspaper said.
According to the newspaper, in the case of approval of the initiative by the Central Bank of Russia, Russian banks that are not under sanctions will be able to switch to the Troy system or open corresponding accounts in the Turkish credit institutions operating in Russia, integrated with the system, which will allow Russian tourists to obtain Troy cards and later use them to make purchases in Turkey. Since the system and the transactions carried out through it are under Turkish control, it would be difficult for the US to find a pretext to interfere in the work related to using the cards, the newspaper believes. Aydınlık also reports that the Central Bank of Russia and Turkey are discussing a model of creating an online system through which tourists will be able to pay for hotels and transportation costs.
Earlier it was reported that all banks in Turkey have suspended the service of the Mir card against the announcement of the US Department of Treasury to impose sanctions for supporting Russia's attempts to expand the use of its payment system abroad. Five banks accepted Mir cards in Turkey: private Is Bankasi, Denizbank and state-owned Ziraat Bankasi, VakifBank and Halkbank.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in turn, instructed the relevant ministries to study alternatives to using the Mir system in the country. This issue was discussed at the government meeting on September 26, the Turkish authorities have not yet reported on the decisions taken.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Moscow-Live/Creative Commons 2.0
Based on materials from TASS