TASS reported on November 25 that Tajikistan has stopped servicing UnionPay cards issued by Russia’s Gazprombank, ceasing cash withdrawals from ATMs.
Problems with servicing these cards began on November 24 and persisted on November 25. At International Bank of Tajikistan ATMs, messages such as “Card not serviced. Restrictions applied to the card” appeared on screens.
TASS’s reporters noted that attempts to withdraw money from ATMs in the country resulted in warnings of technical errors or notifications that the bank does not service the card. Some ATMs displayed messages indicating the bank did not authorize transactions on the card.
Previously, banks in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan also ceased servicing UnionPay cards issued by Gazprombank.
In addition to the Central Asian countries, Gazprombank cards have been rejected in Turkiye, the UAE, Hungary, Thailand, India, Qatar, Vietnam, South Korea, Tunisia, Egypt, Argentina, South Africa, Greece, China, Mongolia, and Morocco.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a new package of anti-Russian sanctions on November 21, targeting dozens of individuals and entities, including Gazprombank, which had not previously been under sanctions.
On November 22, Gazprombank warned clients that new U.S. sanctions could cause issues when using UnionPay payment system cards abroad. Since Russia’s so-called “special military operation”, UnionPay has been the only international payment system to continue operating in Russia, while Visa and Mastercard stopped working with Russian banks in early 2022. “If you are abroad, we recommend using cash,” the bank told customers in an announcement on November 22.
Gazprombank, or GPB, is a private-owned Russian bank, the third largest bank in the country by assets. Gazprombank is one of the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas.
The bank’s principal business areas are corporate banking, retail banking, investment banking and depository services. Its banking activities also include securities trading, foreign exchange operations, precious metals operations, clearing operations and settlement services.
The bank has a distribution network of 43 branches and over 260 banking outlets located throughout the Russian Federation. GPB also has ownership interests in three other Russian banks. In addition, Gazprombank is represented in the market of Belarus through ownership interests in foreign bank: Belgazprombank (Belarus). Gazprombank (Switzerland) Ltd announced it was ceasing to trade in October 2022. Gazprombank also has representative offices in Mongolia, China and India.
