Kyrgyz banks stop money transfers with Russia

Major banks in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan have suspended money transfers to and from Russia due to exchange rate fluctuations and problems with payment systems, state media reports. reported on Thursday.

RSK Bank, Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest lender, said its money transfer systems Astrasend, Contact, Zolotaya Korona and Sberbank Online were temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. Kyrgyzkommertsbank and Kompanion Bank said the Unistream transmission system also failed.

Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan’s Mbank announced restrictions on ruble exchange “due to the volatility of the exchange rate and possible sharp fluctuations in the foreign exchange market.” The bank added, however, that customers’ ruble accounts were safe.

Due to exchange rate fluctuations, Bai-Tushum and DemirBank also stopped their ruble-dollar exchange services.

The suspension of money transfers in Kyrgyzstan came one day after Washington revealed a series of new sanctions to hamper Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, including restrictions on the Moscow Stock Exchange, which halted dollar and euro trading on Thursday.

The USA sanctioned the Unistream remittance system in July 2023, which prompted a number of Kyrgyz banks to temporarily stop using the system.