Kyrgyzstan is one of the major hubs for the in parallel imports from Europe to Russia: in the first and a half years of war, the country has increased imports from the EU by 64.4%.
Banks of the country began to strictly limit calculations to Russian companies after penalties imposed by states. The Moscow Times reported this on Monday, July 21.
Restrictions on calculations with Russia began at the end of last year, and in recent months the situation has been strictly exacerbated: the terms of payment processing have increased, the commissions have grown, and in some cases the transfers have stopped at all.
According to last year, Russia costs 93% of all cross -border transfers in Kyrgyzstan ($ 2.8 billion) and 83% of removing funds from the country ($ 370 million).
Large banks in Kyrgyzstan back in 2024 Moving to Russian banks. We’re talking about Bakai Bank, Demir Bank, Dos Credobank, Keret Bank, Asian Bank, Optima Bank, Eldik Bank (RSK Bank), Kyrgyz-Kommerzbank, MBank and Kyrgyz Investment-Credited Bank.
The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan has explained that commercial banks are required to comply with the laws to combat the financing of terrorism and the launch of funds. This provides for customer verification as part of Know Client Policy (KYC) and the provision of documents that confirm the legality of operations and a source of funds.
The cause of the restrictions is the increase in the administration of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan against the background of the risk of the second penalty of the United States. In the spring of 2025, the single bank for the operation of the ruble was assigned to Kyrgyzstan -“Capital Bank of Central Asia”, which currently processes most cross -border transfers, except for some special regime.
According to Frank Research, innovations lead to a sharp increase in terms of calculations – from one day to three. In addition, the commissions doubled and now cost 1.5-3%. Some Russian companies have left schemes in the participation of Kyrgyz banks due to the need to provide a full package of documents confirming the provision of goods to Kyrgyzstan’s territory. Without such evidence, translations are blocked.
The situation for the Russians became more complicated after the Kyrgyz Keret Bank’s integration with the US penalty list in January 2025. The US Finance Department has accused the bank of assisting in restricting the restrictions introduced against Russia. According to the agency, the Keret Bank has been in contact with the Russian Bank of PSB, which is under penalties since 2022 for funding the Russian Federation defense industry.
An additional attention was attracted to the bank, in the plot where in 2024 the company, related to Moldovan-Russian businessman some Shor, got a banking bank from the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Finance. Shor is under the penalties of the United States and EU, as well as on the International List.
Kyrgyzstan has become one of the major hubs for the in parallel imports from Europe to Russia: in the first and a half years of war, the country has increased imports from the EU by 64.4%. Often goods from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and other European countries also did not fall into the Kyrgyzstan territory, instead they immediately sent to Russia.
Earlier, Kyrgyzstan stopped delivering Russian maps to the world.
In Kyrgyzstan, the Cryptos of the Russian Federation are expressed in bypass penalties – FT
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.