(Bloomberg) -- While President Vladimir Putin is eager to demonstrate to fellow leaders at the BRICS summit that Russia is shrugging off Western sanctions over his war in Ukraine, organizers are sending foreign guests a different message — bring cash.
The summit’s website reminds visitors that they won’t be able to use their Mastercard or Visa cards issued outside of Russia to make payments or cash withdrawals in the country. Union Pay cards are valid but with restrictions, it said.
Instead, Russia advises the summit’s participants to bring dollars or euros, adding that they’re the only currencies that can be “freely exchanged for cash in rubles in most banks in Russia.” It also suggests taking out the home-grown Russian Mir bank card, providing instructions on obtaining one, including at the airport in Kazan, which is hosting the BRICS meeting.
It’s an embarrassing admission for Kremlin officials, who have taken to labeling the dollar and euro as “toxic” currencies in response to sanctions imposed by the US and its Group of Seven allies over Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has turned toward “friendly” currencies such as China’s yuan to try to lessen the economic impact on trade from the restrictions.
The Mir payment system was once touted as a Russian alternative to Visa and Mastercard, though those hopes have mostly been dashed as even some of Moscow’s closest allies have turned away from the card after it was sanctioned by the US.
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