Moscow and Ankara continue to discuss alternatives to the Mir map, but are conducting the dialogue privately due to the risk of sanctions from unfriendly countries. This was stated in an interview with Izvestiya by the director of the Russian-Turkish Business Council (RTBC) Alexei Egarmin.
“Now this process is out of public discussion, and the reasons are clear. Because if any compromises are found on this issue, then they certainly do not need to be disclosed to enemies so that they do not take proactive steps, the head of the RTDS explained.
According to him, now the parties “are discussing many different options.”
“We see them through some third-party settlement centers, through organizations that implement these difficult-to-execute schemes there. But, in fact, these schemes are expensive and will not be as convenient. Here the search for solutions is still ongoing. Whether it will be found by the tourist season is quite difficult to say,” said Egarmin.
In September 2022, five Turkish banks refused to cooperate with the National Payment Card System (NSPK), which acts as the Mir card operator. The United States imposed sanctions against the head of the NSPK. Since then, Moscow and Ankara have been discussing alternative payment methods.
