Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov used his address at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York to announce that the country cannot sever its economic ties with Russia. He said sanctions implemented by several Western states against Kyrgyz companies and banks are based on “false information” and added that the authorities in Bishkek are ready to “accept independent international audits to thoroughly review the activities of Kyrgyz banks,” a report by the Russian state-controlled outlet TASS outlined.
According to Japarov, the “unjustified” Western measures target, among others, Keremet Bank, which the United States and the United Kingdom sanctioned over its links to Russia’s Promsvyazbank (PSB) and to fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor. Shor’s structures have been helping Russian banks and companies process international transactions despite sanctions. The U.S. Treasury said that in 2024, a Shor-linked firm bought a controlling stake in Keremet Bank from Kyrgyzstan’s Finance Ministry.
In May, Shor used Kyrgyzstan to launch a new cryptocurrency token, A7A5, designed for cross-border payments to bypass Western sanctions on Russia. According to the Financial Times, in just four months around $9.3 billion moved through A7A5 on the Grinex and Meer crypto exchanges, also registered in Kyrgyzstan and blacklisted by the U.S. The A7A5 stablecoin is pegged to the ruble and backed by deposits at PSB, which is under U.S., U.K. and EU sanctions for supporting Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Japarov is also personally close to Shor. On Sept. 23, Moldovan outlet IPN published an investigation alleging that, through a network of proxies, Shor provided Japarov with a luxury Gulfstream G650 jet worth $21.8 million.
Internal documents from the “Shor Group,” obtained by IPN journalists, show the deal was structured as a lease-to-buy arrangement through intermediaries in Turkey, with Shor confidant Viktor Gutsulyak acting as counterparty. The documents also mention the purchase of another plane — a 13-year-old Gulfstream G450 — through the same Turkish intermediaries.
In Moldova, the 37-year-old Shor is wanted in connection with the 2014 theft of $1 billion from the country’s banking system — 12% of Moldova’s GDP. He was arrested in 2015 and sentenced to 7.5 years in prison in 2017. However, in 2019, while under house arrest while the case was under appeal, Shor fled to Israel. He is now hiding in Moscow. Shor, who denies the charges, was sanctioned by the U.S., EU and UK in 2022.
According to reporting by Bloomberg, Shor’s business empire includes companies that provide financial services to Russian enterprises struggling with cross-border transactions due to international sanctions. Among them is A7, created jointly with the state-owned Promsvyazbank (PSB), which is under heavy U.S. restrictions. In September 2024, Shor acquired 51% of A7’s shares, while PSB held 49%, Bloomberg noted.
Official Russian corporate registry data (EGRUL) lists only Promsvyazbank, with a 49% stake. However, the SPARK database shows Shor among A7’s managers, shareholders and controlling parties, with a stake of more than 50%.
