The Kyrgyz authorities asked to open “at least one” Russian bank in the country

For three years now, Bishkek has been offering Moscow to organize the work of a branch of a large credit organization, said Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov. “They promise, but they still haven’t opened it. I don’t know if they are working so slowly or if they just don’t want to open a bank,” he noted. Due to problems with payments directly to China, Kyrgyzstan has become one of the options for businesses to transfer money, including to Chinese banks.

Why, then, are there still no Russian banks or their branches there? “Kommersant FM” discussed this with the president of the investment holding “Finam” Vladislav Kochetkov. Two years ago, his company wanted to acquire one of the Kyrgyz banks, but the position of the Central Bank prevented it, a source told Kommersant FM: “It would be convenient, especially since the role of Kyrgyzstan as a foreign trade partner, albeit a transit one, is growing. And Kyrgyzstan is quite loyal to Russia. The market is also interesting in terms of cryptocurrencies; there is potential for development in stock trading as well.

We did not enter for a number of non-public reasons, although the country is interesting. And I don’t think that there is any opposition from the Russian authorities. Both Sberbank and VTB have subsidiary banks and branches in many countries. Sber, for example, is developing well in India; at the Chinese VTB in Shanghai, queues are scheduled for many months. Most likely, there simply is not enough resources for everything, and Kyrgyzstan was a kind of secondary country. In addition, various approvals are needed on what a bank branch will actually be able to do, what transactions can take place through it, what degree of freedom, of course, within the framework of the law, it will be given, this may take some time.”

At the beginning of April, Mir cards stopped working in Kyrgyzstan. On April 12, the country’s Prime Minister assured that the authorities had nothing to do with it and “are not afraid of any sanctions.” According to the Prime Minister, this decision was made by commercial banks and it is more painful for residents of Kyrgyzstan than for Russians. Alfa Bank, meanwhile, plans to open branches in China. Partner of the organization Zoya Rodionova said that branches in Beijing and Shanghai could start operating in the third quarter of 2025.

This should make it easier to carry out transactions in yuan, says Alexander Bespalov, founder of the consulting company Bespalov Finance: “By the standards of such transactions, this is not much. Obtaining a banking license and resolving all related legal and administrative issues is a long process. China itself is a difficult jurisdiction. Now we are also talking about the fact that we are working under sanctions, such decisions are no longer made just at the level of the Central Bank of the country, but at the level of top officials, and to determine our policy, including communication with unfriendly partners, who, naturally, by such a decision will be unhappy because this is a direct bypass of sanctions. At the moment, procedures have been launched and are ongoing for both opening correspondent accounts in Russian banks with foreign banks and opening them in other countries.

Alternative solutions are also being developed, these are transactions through payment agents, when a foreign legal entity is used as a paying agent. There are developments in alternative tools for payments through digital financial assets and cryptocurrency, and I think that in the coming years we will see their active implementation.”

Earlier, Kommersant sources reported that Chinese banks refused to accept payments from Russian companies for electronics components. Previously, the problems concerned finished products, but now they have spread to parts for them. According to experts, China is a monopolist in this area, and Russian manufacturers may face serious difficulties.

Daniil Babkin