The Russian
government will intensify efforts to cut the country’s dependence
on US payment systems and the dollar as a settling currency, said
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Monday, as quoted by RIA
Novosti.
“We
will, of course, speed up the work on import substitution, reduce
dependence on US payment systems, on the dollar as a settling
currency and so on. It is becoming a vitally important,” said
Ryabkov. “The US is using its dominating role in the monetary
and financial system to impose pressure on foreign business,
including Russian companies,” added the deputy minister.
After
Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow in 2014, the MasterCard
international payment system stopped serving clients of seven Russian
banks without warning.
In response,
the Russian government ordered the creation of a national payment
system. With the support of the country's banking system, the Mir
charge card was introduced in 2015.
Last week,
US President Donald Trump approved the law imposing new restrictions
on the Russian banking and energy sectors. The ban targets already
sanctioned Russian firms, limiting the financing period for them to
14 and 60 days.
The new
law will punish individuals for investing more than $5 million a year
or $1 million at a time in Russian energy export pipeline projects or
providing such enterprises with services, technology or information
support.
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