The Cuban Vice Prime Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga stated this Friday that the Russian payment system MIR and other cards from allied countries allow the regime to continue conducting its financial transactions without difficulty, despite the suspension of Visa and Mastercard in Cuba implemented this week.
The statements were made in an exclusive interview with Sputnik during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026), where the official—who is also the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment—downplayed the impact of U.S. sanctions.
"The financial activities are being maintained with payments made using MIR cards and other payment cards from various countries and banks, allowing us to continue operating without difficulty," emphasized Pérez-Oliva Fraga before the Russian state agency.
The official acknowledged, however, that the decision by processing banks to sever ties with Cuba is in response to Executive Order No. 14404, signed by Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, which expanded sanctions against the island and introduced secondary penalties for foreign financial institutions linked to GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls a large portion of the Cuban economy.
Fincimex S.A., a financial entity linked to GAESA, has moved up the suspension to Wednesday, June 3 at 2:00 PM, two days earlier than the originally scheduled date of June 6, to avoid additional losses resulting from the 72-hour settlement cycle required for operations through POS terminals from abroad.
The OFAC set June 5 as the deadline for foreign companies and financial institutions to terminate their operations with GAESA and its subsidiaries, which resulted in an unidentified foreign processing bank notifying Fincimex of the termination of its contract after 32 years of operations with Visa and Mastercard on the island.
As payment alternatives in foreign currencies, cash, the national prepaid cards Clásica and Tropical, as well as the international cards MIR and UnionPay, remain available.
The MIR system, developed by Russia in response to western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, has been implemented in Cuba for several years. In December 2023, its use in ATMs and POS terminals was officialized on the island, starting with tourist areas, and by May 2024, there had already been over 67,000 transactions with MIR cards in Cuba.
In the same forum, Pérez-Oliva Fraga highlighted advancements in scientific cooperation between Cuba and Russia, including the joint development of "innovative products against cancer and other pathologies" that require additional resources to reach higher stages of commercialization.
The official also mentioned the signing of a joint action plan with the Eurasian Economic Union for the period 2026-2030, endorsed by Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa in Astana, Kazakhstan, during the recent summit of the bloc.
The scenario in which the regime seeks these supports is one of deep crisis: between January and April 2026, Cuba received only 328,608 international visitors, a drop of 55.8% compared to the same period in 2025, while chains like Meliá and Iberostar announced the cessation of operations at dozens of hotels on the island.
The day before the suspension of Visa and Mastercard, the U.S. Treasury directly sanctioned Miguel Díaz-Canel, Lis Cuesta, Alejandro Castro Espín, the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, in the most intense escalation of pressure recorded against the regime in recent years.
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