ST. PETERSBURG--The Bank of Russia is working with its
counterparts in Belarus and Kazakhstan on creating a regional
payment system within the countries" customs union, the central
bank's first deputy chairman said Wednesday.
Moscow plans to create a national payment system to protect
itself against the kind of disruption caused when Visa and
MasterCard cut ties with Russian banks hit by U.S. sanctions after
Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March.
Speaking on the sidelines of a banking conference, Georgy
Luntovsky said the central bank is now discussing the creation of
the payment system within the Kremlin-run customs union of former
Soviet states.
Russia plans to launch its own payment system in the second half
of 2015, but hasn't yet made a final decision on what will serve as
a basis for the system. It is also unclear how Visa and MasterCard
will cooperate with Russia's national payment system.
Mr. Luntovsky's statement fits the pattern outlined by the
International Monetary Fund in a report Tuesday. The IMF warned
that Western sanctions on Russia are likely to push Moscow toward
increased self-reliance. The fund said the well-being of the
Russian economy lies in a greater global integration that began
with Moscow's 2012 accession to the World Trade Organization, but
the crisis in Ukraine is now endangering that course.
Write to andrey.ostroukh@wsj.com
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