The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added the Keremet Bank, based in Kyrgyzstan, to its sanctions list, according to a statement from the agency.
The press release from the Treasury notes that at least since the summer of 2024, officials from this bank have coordinated their actions with Russian officials and the sanctioned Promsvyazbank to implement a scheme to evade sanctions.
According to OFAC, Ilan Shor, a Russian-Moldovan businessman who is under U.S. sanctions, was also involved in discussions regarding Keremet Bank's role in the sanctions evasion scheme.
"In 2024, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance sold a controlling stake in Keremet Bank to a firm closely linked to a Russian oligarch with connections to the Russian government. The acquisition of Keremet Bank was aimed at establishing a center for Russia to evade sanctions for paying for imports and receiving payments for exports," the release states.
According to the agency, the Kyrgyz bank "was found guilty of conducting or facilitating (...) transactions or providing any services related to the Russian defense industry."