Yerevan/Mediamax/. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) investigates the resumption of operations by “Bistraya Pochta” money transfer system on “Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia”, head of CBA Communications Department Rufat Abbasov told Trend Agency.

“If it is indeed so, the Central Bank will take measures to stop operations of “Bistraya Pochta” in Azerbaijan,” said Abbasov.

According to the information provided on the website of “Bistraya Pochta”, the system is represented in Stepanakert, Shushi, Askeran and Hadrut.

At various times, the CBA instructed the Azerbaijani banks to suspended cooperation with following money transfer systems: Contact, Migom, Leader, Western Union, Moneygram, “Zolotaya Korona” and “Privat  Money”.

Mediamax recalls that this October, the Central Bank of Armenia banned the activity of “Zolotaya Korona” on the territory of the republic. It was established that without any argumentations the operator had frequently failed to provide the possibility of using the system in some branches of banks operating on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

With a similar argumentation the activity of Migom was banned in Armenia early this September, and in August 2008 - Western Union.

Interviewed by Mediamax this October, the President of UNISTREAM International Money Transfer System Suren Hayriyan commented on the situation, saying:

“Working in any country, no matter what business the company is engaged in, it should fully comply with the rules established by the regulators. Leaving aside the political aspect of the issue, I shall remind that the Central Bank of Armenia has demanded that all the systems should operate throughout the whole territory of the country. Moreover, they should inform the clients about it. It’s a quite logical demand: people in all regions of Armenia have the right for equal services across the whole territory of the country and should be informed about the services in necessary volumes. And finally, it is the regulator that bears responsibility for the protection of clients’ interests.

It seems that not all the companies have equally responded to these demands. It can be assumed that it entailed some sanctions. This is why I have only one answer to your question: one must clearly know and comply with the requirements established by law.

By the way, there was a time when UNISTREAM had also been in a tough situation. We were asked to leave Azerbaijan because we were operating in Nagorno Karabakh. We have chosen operations in Armenia and left Azerbaijan. This was probably one of the issues I was talking about above- all the systems should work at equal conditions and clearly follow the requirements of the regulator. The regulator, for its part, should conduct clear policy following the so-called “fair play” principle for those who clearly comply with its requirements. I think the principle of double standards here should be excluded.”