Kyrgyz banks stop doing business with Russia

Major banks in Kyrgyzstan have announced a suspension of money transfers to and from Russia due to exchange rate fluctuations and problems with payment systems, News.Az reports, citing Kyrgyz media.

RSK Bank, Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest bank, said its money transfer systems Astrasend, Contact, Zolotaya Korona and Sberbank Online were temporarily down due to technical problems. Kyrgyzkommertsbank and Kompanion Bank said their Unistream remittance system was also down.

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 a day after Washington announced a series of new sanctions to hamper Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. Those sanctions include restrictions on the Moscow Stock Exchange, which halted dollar and euro trading on Thursday.

The United States sanctioned the Unistream remittance system in July 2023, prompting a number of Kyrgyz banks to temporarily stop using the system.

News.Az