According to the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, a meeting on the implementation of state policy regarding compliance with international sanctions regimes was held on July 27 under the chairmanship of Presidential Special Representative for Special Assignments Bakyt Sydykov. Representatives of government agencies, the National Bank and commercial banks took part in the meeting.

Participants noted that international partners have positively assessed Kyrgyzstan’s measures to improve mechanisms aimed at preventing sanctions circumvention. Specifically, this refers to the vetting of companies whose activities may be associated with heightened sanctions risks.

It was reported that within three weeks after the previous meeting of the interagency working group, three legal entities ceased operations: Shisan LLC, Rama Group LLC and Nova Project LLC. In addition, a license of one cryptocurrency company was revoked.

Related news EU anti-Russian sanctions: Operations with Kyrgyzstan’s EcoIslamicBank banned Representatives of EcoIslamicBank CJSC stated that the bank does not conduct transactions with individuals or companies included on sanctions lists and operates in accordance with internal compliance control requirements and international financial monitoring standards.

Following the meeting, government agencies were instructed to complete inspections of the identified entities within one week and make decisions in accordance with current legislation.

In recent years, companies in third countries have increasingly been targeted over suspected sanctions circumvention.Thus, three firms from Kyrgyzstan and EcoIslamicBank were included in the 21st package of EU anti-Russian sanctions. The restrictions were imposed due to this bank’s use of the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), allegedly to help Russia circumvent the sanctions.

Furthermore, the European Union imposed sanctions against the Bishkek-registered cryptocurrency platform TengriCoin, Keremet Bank, and Capital Bank. The import of CNC machine tools and advanced communications equipment to the republic was completely banned.

Several Kyrgyz commercial entities have already been placed under various restrictive measures by the US, UK, EU, and Canada from 2024 to 2025. These include Capital Bank Central Asia, Tolubay and Eurasian Savings Bank, the A7 payment platform, and the Grinex and Meer cryptocurrency exchanges. The first sanctions against private companies in the republic were imposed in June 2024.

Kyrgyz authorities have repeatedly stated that the restrictions against domestic banks are completely unfounded. Sadyr Japarov, speaking at the UN, criticized the West for economic restrictions against the country. The head of state called such measures direct interference in the republic’s internal affairs and pressure that seriously hinders the development of the still-emerging national economy.