Sanctions prevent Russia from introducing new banknotes into circulation: ATMs cannot be flashed
In total, there are almost 200,000 ATMs in Russia, and approximately 60% of them are manufactured by the Western companies NСR and Diebold Nixdorf, which have stopped operating in the Russian market.
In Russia, due to the mass withdrawal of Western manufacturers against the backdrop of sanctions, new 100-ruble bills cannot be introduced into circulation, as 80% of ATMs and payment terminals across the country cannot accept them. The equipment needs to be reprogrammed, which is practically impossible — international companies specializing in this have left the Russian Federation, Russian media reports.
Thus, according to Oleksiy Fedorov, the leading economist of the TeleTrade Information and Analytical Center, there are almost 200,000 ATMs operating in Russia, and approximately 60% of them are manufactured by the companies NСR and Diebold Nixdorf, which left the Russian market after the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine.
Now Russians are promised that the new bills will be put into circulation no earlier than 2024. At that time, the problem will be solved by supplying new equipment from ‘friendly countries’. Even in the Russian Federation, they are going to establish their own production of ATMs and payment terminals. All this is estimated to take only two years.
They wanted to introduce new 100-ruble notes into circulation in Russia as early as 2022. And in 2023, new banknotes of 1 thousand rubles were to appear. But there will be problems with them too, since ATMs cannot accept them either.
It is worth noting that the Russian economy has been suffering significantly from sanctions since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. As reported by Bloomberg, the country faces a serious economic downturn due to the breakdown of trade ties and the loss of access to international production.
