The head of the country's drug enforcement agency has proposed that the government eliminate anonymous money transfers through free-standing payment terminals.
Federal Drug Control Service director Viktor Ivanov said Friday that the ability to send money through virtual payment systems without identification could be helping drug dealers.
"If drug dealers use [payment systems], it is a very minute number," Ivanov said. "Nonetheless, we believe that it is necessary to make sending money in this financial system stricter. Account holders must be identified."
Common payment terminal brands include Qiwi, CyberPlat and Eleksnet. State-owned Sberbank also offers many terminals for bill payments and transactions.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Ivanov was also targeting online payment systems, which are offered by many of the same companies running the terminals.
(MT)
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