YEREVAN, March 19. /ARKA/. In response to the request of Arka news agency to comment on the refusal of Armenian banks to service "Mir" cards from March 30, the Central Bank of Armenia said that "commercial banks of Armenia independently decide which payment systems to cooperate with, based on their risk management strategies, including those related to sanctions".  

Russian news agency RBC reported today that most of  commercial banks in Armenia will stop servicing 'Mir' cards from March 30. The only exception is VTB Armenia Bank (a subsidiary of Russia's VTB).

According to the Central Bank, commercial banks are obliged to duly notify their clients in case of changes in service conditions.  

Earlier, Director of the Central Bank's Financial System Stability and Regulation Department Garegin Gevorgyan said at the Capital Markets Armenia conference that Armenia has not joined the sanctions against Russia, but observes them.

"We want Armenia to become a center for foreign securities trading..... From another point of view, we have to follow all the requirements, both on anti-money laundering and sanctions," he said.-0-