YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. Armenia's Central Bank is monitoring the sanctions placed by the West on Russia, the chairman of the Central Bank Martin Galstyan told the ARKA news agency when asked about whether the Central Bank was under pressure from international structures or government for not supporting these sanctions.

“Our approach is that we should monitor the regime of international sanctions (against Russia); we have some experience in this matter. Our mission today is to maintain the integrity of the financial system of Armenia,” Galstyan said.

Martin Galstyan said also that Visa and MasterCard payment cards are serviced in Armenia by all banks, with the exception of VTB Bank (Armenia), a subsidiary of Russian VTB bank.

Galstyan added, however, that the bank is quite healthy and is under the control of the Central Bank of Armenia.

On March 14 the Central Bank announced that VTB Bank (Armenia) operates in a normal mode, is provided with liquidity and uninterruptedly services its deposits. The regulator noted that the bank is currently working to restore proper and full servicing of its cardholders in Armenia. 0-