The list of countries who will permit access to Russia’s MIR banking system is growing with Mongolia set to join shortly. Tuksgrlin Munkh-Od, the head of the Department for the Coordination of Tourism Policy at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia, set out the plans February 16, stating that the country’s authorities have almost completed preparatory work with local banks.

“I am glad to announce that cards of Russian banks [of the Mir system] will soon start working in Mongolia. We have already done 80% of the work with Mongolian banks in this area. Of course, we understand how difficult it is for Russian tourists in Mongolia to pay for services and make purchases.

It is too early to say which banks in Mongolia will work with the Russian Mir card, but the work is underway in this area” Tuksgrlin said.

In 2018, Belarus and Kazakhstan became the first countries which began to accept MIR cards. At present, the Russian payment system operates in about 10 countries, and more than 15 countries have expressed their readiness to introduce it.

The Russian tourism industry is changing with domestic Russian tourists seeking holidays in countries with friendly attitudes towards Russia and which have banking facilities that they can use to access their bank accounts back in Russia in order to pay for goods and services abroad. Mongolia was part of the USSR and offers extensive adventure travel opportunities as the country itself begins to open up after Covid. Russian contractors are also working on the second gas pipeline, the ‘Power of Siberia 2‘ transiting Russian gas to China.

Russia Briefing