Venezuela is making progress in joining the Russian MIR payment system, the Russian ambassador to the country, Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov, recently told the Tass agency.
On this subject, the economist Tony Boza assured ÚN that the Russian card will strengthen the means of payment that currently exist in the country. “Venezuela has been advancing for several years in digital payment systems. With the incorporation of the MIR, the payment mechanisms in the country would have more compatibility and we would have more independence to get rid of the spheres of the dollar”, he remarked.
In that sense, he noted that the "system with which the dollar is developed is not the same as it was two decades ago."
Payment alternative
As a consequence of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, international systems such as Visa and Mastercard suspended operations in the Eurasian country as a punitive measure. However, the MIR mechanism has become an alternative to deal with the blocking of Russian transactions.
On May 1, 2017, the Central Bank of Russia established the MIR as the national payment system. This includes credit and debit cards, payment methods and electronic collection.
In this regard, Boza does not rule out that in the short term the MIR "will be used by natural persons, small companies in the private sector, among other entities" in Venezuela.
He added that the biggest driver of changes in cancellation mechanisms is the US system, which intends to dominate countries around the world.
Russia is not the only country that has developed new payment methods. For 20 years, China has also put into operation the Union Pay payment system, managed by the central bank of that country.
"When the US uses measures against Russia and China, it is driving the rest of the world to have to look for alternatives," Boza said.
