Has the Armenian Central Bank demanded to check the activity of Western Union in Russia?

The Bank of Russia has spread a strange letter where it has asked Russian banks if Western Union has violated any provisions of its contracts.

Vedomosti reminds its readers that in late July 2008 the National Bank of Azerbaijan prohibited Western Union to work in its territory because the system received payments in Nagorno-Karabakh. After the visit of the vice president of Western Union Jonathan Knaus to Azerbaijan, the system stopped its activities in Nagorno-Karabakh and resumed its work in Azerbaijan.

In its turn, the Central Bank of Armenia expressed indignation and instructed Armenian banks to stop cooperation with Western Union because that system violated its contracts.

Now the story has continued in Russia: some Russian bankers have told Vedomosti that the Central Bank of Armenia has asked the Bank of Russia to check up the work of Western Union. However, a source in the Armenian CB has said that such a request is formally impossible. They in the Bank of Russia have made no comments while they in Western Union say that they have always complied with their contractual obligations.

/ArmInfo/