Topic analysis

Take action over officials in Kyrgyzstan ‘helping Russia evade sanctions’, MPs and peers say

More than 20 British MPs and peers have urged the UK foreign secretary to impose personal sanctions on three senior Kyrgyzstan officials—central bank head Melis Turgunbaev, general prosecutor Maksat Asanaliev, and financial regulations authority chief Marat Pirnazarov—for allegedly facilitating Russia’s sanctions evasion through the ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5. The stablecoin, linked to sanctioned Russian bank Promsvyazbank, has processed over $100 billion in transactions, with Kyrgyz exchanges like Grinex and Meer (already under UK sanctions) allowing cash purchases, and MPs argue previous measures are insufficient to stop A7A5 from aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine.