After Russia became deeply entrenched in Ukraine, international sanctions rained down on it. Whatever may be said within Russia itself about the benefits of these sanctions, among other things, the issue of withdrawing funds from the country and legalizing capital has become acute. One of the methods has been the use of banks in former Soviet republics, especially those fully dependent on Russia.
This is obvious to anyone with even a slight understanding of economics – an analysis of trade operations makes it possible to identify locations with atypical banking activities and money movements. This is particularly evident if the country is small and its economy is weak. An example is Uzbekistan.
Clearly, such an imbalance must be caused by something. In the case of Uzbekistan, it’s simple – these are Russian funds that Russian oligarchs are trying to withdraw from under the pressure of sanctions. The next step is even simpler: one just needs to track the banks through which this money moves. In Uzbekistan, the bank through which Russian money is legalized is Octobank.
The next task is to identify where the money comes into the bank and where it goes afterward. The latter is more difficult, as «dirty» money, once it enters Octobank and mixes with other funds, emerges as virtually impeccable capital. However, tracing the money coming into the bank is much easier. The key is to know the exact sources of the money and to whom they belong.
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The main sources of «dirty» money are Russian banks such as Promsvyazbank, Gazprombank, VTB, MTS Bank, MIN Bank (merged with the state-owned Promsvyazbank in 2023), and Russkiy Standart Bank. What is interesting in this context is that a significant portion of the money arriving at Octobank accounts from the aforementioned Russian banks comes from the VAVADA casino. Even more intriguing is the localization of these funds – Octobank is serviced by the RNKO operator.
The head of RNKO «Payment Center» is Mats Grigory Moiseevich, and it is registered in Novosibirsk. The founder of «Payment Center» is AO «CFT-Service», also registered in Novosibirsk, with Pogudin Alexander Viktorovich as its head. Through RNKO «Payment Center», about a billion rubles pass daily, which are then directed either to offshore jurisdictions or to crypto exchanges, where rubles are converted into cryptocurrency or dollars.
Money reaches crypto exchanges not directly but through Uzbekistan’s Kapitalbank, the Humo payment system, Uzcard processing, and the UzNex crypto exchange. Behind all these enterprises stands a certain Dmitry Lee, who is referred to as the «overseer» of the payment market in the country on behalf of the family of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Octobank itself is also owned by the presidential family – its nominal owner, Iskandar Tursunov, purchased shares of Ravnaq-bank (as Octobank was called until August 2023) in the interests of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s daughter, Saida, and her husband Oybek Tursunov, who serves as the first deputy head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Iskandar Tursunov appeared in Uzbekistan suddenly, arriving from London, where he had worked in the financial sector for several years. In London, several companies were registered under his name, which are linked to Uzbekistan’s elites. After Iskandar Tursunov acquired a controlling stake in Octobank, the British company KREATIVE KAFE LIMITED was liquidated, and he focused on serving the interests of the Mirziyoyev family.
Among these interests is cooperation with Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is a co-owner of another counterparty of Octobank – Uzbekistan’s Kapitalbank. Oybek Tursunov (the president’s son-in-law and the real owner of Octobank) was involved in 2022 in the sale of Usmanov’s shares in Kapitalbank to the company «Finance TCI», whose owners are listed as former top managers of Alisher Usmanov, Irina Lupicheva and Boris Dobrodeev.
It is unsurprising that Kapitalbank, the largest private bank in the country, conducts active operations with Octobank – both are controlled by the same individuals: Saida Mirziyoyeva, Oybek Tursunov, and Alisher Usmanov. From the latter comes a steady flow of money from Russia, which is then withdrawn to offshore jurisdictions and other countries, notably Turkey, where the owners of the Emirates-registered technology company DGPAYS are based. This company handles banking operations, acquiring, and electronic currencies, and closely collaborates with Octobank and Kapitalbank.
Thus, the following picture emerges. Octobank, under the full control of the daughter and son-in-law of Uzbekistan’s president, receives a flow of money from Russian banks, which is then withdrawn to crypto exchanges (also controlled by representatives of the Mirziyoyev family) through payment systems, likewise controlled by the presidential family, and moved to offshore jurisdictions. How this money moves further and where it ultimately ends up is not reliably known, but it is clear that some of the interests of those controlling Octobank are concentrated in Turkey and the UAE. It also raises no doubts that Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is fully dependent, if not on the President of Russia personally, then at least on a segment of Russian elites. Among the latter is Alisher Usmanov, though it is unlikely that the circle of people withdrawing their money through Octobank, which belongs to the family of Uzbekistan’s president, is limited to his name alone.
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