ST. PETERSBURG, May 23 (RAPSI) - Visa and MasterCard have reached preliminary agreement on the terms of operating in Russia with the authorities, according to the companies' statements made on Friday.

Representatives of both global online payment systems met with Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov during the 17th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“They called on the Russian Government to help establish relations with national payment systems, so that a purely Russian company, be it Visa or MasterCard, could be established in 12 to 18 months,” Mr. Siluanov told journalists after his meeting with Visa and MasterCard representatives at the forum.

Both companies have indicated that they would like to continue working in Russia, despite the challenges of the new legislation, including the financial coverage requirements, Mr Siluanov noted.

A law, passed after Visa and MasterCard stopped processing the cards of some Russian banks, due to US sanctions, orders foreign payment systems to submit quarterly financial coverage deposits totaling 25% of their average daily turnover to a special Bank of Russia account from July 1. Both Visa and MasterCard consider these requirements too harsh, and Visa has even stated that it was willing to withdraw from Russia.