UK introduces restrictions against 3 individuals, 5 companies for helping bypass anti-Russian sanctions
The British authorities, as part of the sanctions against Russia, introduced sanctions against three individuals and five companies, accusing them of helping Russia bypass sanctions, the British Foreign Office said on Wednesday.
"UK cracks down on Russia's attempts to avoid sanctions by exploiting Kyrgyz financial systems and crypto networks," the Foreign Office said in a press release.
The UK took this step "after the United States announced similar measures, demonstrating shared commitment to crack down on sanctions circumvention," the document said.
According to the document, the British sanctions target the Grinex cryptocurrency exchange and the Kyrgyz companies Tengricoin and Old Vector. Besides, the restrictions apply to Capital Bank and its Director Kantemir Chalbayev. The blacklists also include the Altair Holding company, based in Luxembourg.
Besides the director of Capital Bank, the sanctions target Nazarbek Zhanyshbek and Russian citizen Leonid Shumakov.
On August 14, the United States included in the sanctions lists the A7 company, created with the participation of PSB Bank and specializing in settlements for foreign trade operations.
Sanctions were also imposed on A7 Agent and A71, the Grinex cryptocurrency exchange, two platforms - Exved and INDEFI Smartbank, the Garantex Europe company (the Estonian legal entity of the crypto exchange Garantex), and the Old Vector company (Bishkek).
The U.S. Department of Justice earlier said the country's law enforcement agencies, in collaboration with Germany and Finland, had destroyed the online infrastructure of Garantex on March 6 as it was suspected of breaching sanctions and money laundering.
A7 was created in fall 2024. The company offers services to Russian exporters and importers in settlements with foreign partners. A7 was included in the UK sanctions list in May and was sanctioned by the European Union in July.