Financial transactions on Russian “MIR” cards in Kyrgyzstan have finally stopped. According to official data, as of the end of the third quarter of last year, not a single transaction using these cards was recorded, and not a single som was withdrawn from them.

Commercial banks in the country started refusing to service MIR cards back in November 2022, fearing secondary US sanctions. However, despite this, during 2023, 325.7 thousand transactions worth over 1.3 billion soms were conducted using them, including payment for goods and services (600 million soms) and cash withdrawals (744.3 million soms). Although these figures were lower than in 2022, the volume of transactions remained significant.

Since the beginning of 2024, transactions on MIR cards have continued, with 128.9 thousand transactions totaling 162.9 million KGS in the first quarter. However, the situation changed in the second quarter. In April, the operator of the national payment system “Elkart” announced the cessation of work with Russian cards, referring to the U.S. sanctions imposed in February 2024 against the National Payment Card System, the operator of “MIR”.

After that, the volume of transactions declined sharply: in the second quarter, the number of transactions fell to 5.1 thousand and the amount of transactions fell to 13.7 million soms. In the third quarter, transactions stopped completely. Until then, MIR cards had been accepted in Kyrgyzstan since 2019.

While Kyrgyz financial and credit institutions froze work with Russian cards, in Kazakhstan VTB Bank announced the resumption of issuing MIR cards for non-residents. The bank said that their systems have been adapted to the new legal requirements, and the cards will be valid for one year, and up to three years for diplomats and non-resident investors.