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Putin bemoans market dominance of Visa, MasterCard

Xinhua, April 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday expressed his regret that no local alternative payment system analogous to Visa and MasterCard exists in his country.

Speaking to legislators in Russia's northern capital St. Petersburg, Putin said Russian leaders had for too long assumed that economics and politics were separate domains.

This lack of strategic awareness had allowed Visa and MasterCard to occupy more than 90 percent of the Russian credit card market, the Russian President complained.

Russia must diversify its economy in accordance with the country's Program-2020 development plan, Putin said, including innovation in the financial sector.

Visa and MasterCard made headlines late last year by suspending their operations in Crimea and Sevastapol in accordance with the U. S. ban on trade in services with the region.

In response, a Russian transaction processing initiative was introduced to Crimea earlier this month. Endite