MBank and Omurbek Babanov: sanctions risks, ties with Russia and a new ally in the war against Ukraine

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov said in an interview with Putin correspondent Pavel Zarubin: ‘It is certainly wrong <...> they say one thing but do another. There are European countries that are part of NATO or the European Union, they co-operate with Russia. And they should not tell us, point or ask us not to co-operate with Russia or the CIS’.

However, it is not only Kyrgyz government agencies that are aiming to co-operate with Russia, but also representatives of Kyrgyzstan's private sector. One of them is Omurbek Babanov, a former Kyrgyz prime minister and owner of one of the country's largest banks, MBank. Among other things, he owns the Asia Cement plant in Russia. This company is involved in constructing the Multipurpose Fast Research Reactor (MBIR) in Dimitrovgrad, a project of the Russian nuclear industry.

Підписуйтеcь на наш Telegram-канал Lenta.UA - ЄДИНІ незалежні новини про події в Україні та світі

Back in 2017, Babanov openly stated that Kyrgyzstan's future is linked only to Russia.

Omurbek Babanov's pro-Russian actions have become a subject of interest for international journalists. In particular, MBank, owned by Babanov, was found to be cooperating with Russia's Sberbank, which is under EU and US sanctions. MBank's partnership with Sberbank's subsidiary Bank 131 is believed to be one of the mechanisms for circumventing the sanctions. MBank has also been reported to be working with Russia's Kartstandart Centre, part of the US-sanctioned CFT group, through their affiliate CSI, a processing company.

The quintessential example of investigative journalism was a piece in Foreign Policy titled ‘Ukraine's Sprawling Hybrid Warfare Could Be the Middle East's Future’. The article refers to MBank's co-operation with Russia's Sberbank, which is under all possible sanctions. It also mentions Babanov himself, who, according to the publication, faces potential sanctions for his company Asia Cement's ties to the Russian nuclear industry. Foreign Policy warns that if MBank continues to co-operate with sanctioned Russian companies, it could face secondary sanctions from the US and EU.

Apparently, such media attention did not suit Babanov. Instead of announcing the cessation of co-operation with Russia, he began to delete exposing publications. For example, an investigation about his activities in the Turkish publication TimeTurk was removed at Babanov's request without legal grounds under pressure from administrative resources. References to the construction of MBIR by Babanov's cement factory also disappeared in Russian-language media.

The sweep began after the publication of the material in Foreign Policy, and is still developing. However, the internet remembers everything. The TimeTurk investigation is still available on the Web Archive.

Also, when searching for the query ‘Asia Cement MBIR’, the Russian-language Google results continue to index materials confirming the Asia Cement plant's participation in the MBIR construction.

The scrubbing of texts exposing Omurbek Babanov will likely continue. However, his activities are now under the scrutiny of hundreds of professionals defending freedom of speech and international law. Given his rich criminal biography, it can be expected that the number of investigations about his activities will continue to grow.

OFAC's position on this businessman helping Russia is unknown.