On October 8, 2026, the UK added three Kyrgyzstan-registered companies and one top manager to its sanctions list. The list includes Processing CJ, crypto exchange TokenSpot, payment service Tsunami Payments, and Processing CJ head Ulan Bukabaev. The decision falls under British restrictions against Russia, according to a UK Foreign Office notice cited by Asia-Plus referencing a Fergana news agency report.
What exactly London banned
The sanctions impose concrete restrictions, not just a formal gesture. UK banks are banned from establishing correspondent relationships with Processing CJ, TokenSpot, and Tsunami Payments. Financial organizations under UK jurisdiction cannot process payments to, from, or through these companies. London explains the decision by stating that the activities of all three entities may benefit or support the Russian government.
Separate personal restrictions target Bukabaev: he is banned from entering the UK and restricted from holding executive positions.
Inclusion on the British list does not automatically block these companies’ accounts in Kyrgyz banks. The restrictions directly apply to British persons and operations under UK jurisdiction. However, as Asia-Plus notes, financial organizations in other countries may also refuse cooperation due to sanctions risks, which could complicate international payments and currency operations for all three entities.
Three companies and one common trait
Processing CJ is the most prominent name on the list. British authorities identify the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Finance as its parent structure: according to Economist.kg data cited by Asia-Plus, the ministry became the company’s sole shareholder in July 2025. That same summer, Bukabaev stated that the new processing center would handle trade finance operations and become an alternative to SWIFT, the international financial messaging system.
TokenSpot is a Bishkek-registered cryptocurrency exchange targeting users from Russia and other CIS countries. The platform allows buying and selling crypto for rubles and other currencies, uses bank deposit and withdrawal methods, offers spot and futures trading, and operates as an acquiring service supporting cards, the Faster Payments System (SBP), and SberPay. According to registry data cited by Asia-Plus, Kuvat Shabdanaliev is currently listed as the head, and the company’s status is marked as “re-registration.”
Tsunami Payments is mentioned in the UK Foreign Office notice as a payment service, but the source provides no details about its business.
The A7 Network context
According to Asia-Plus, citing a Financial Times report, representatives of the Russian A7 network presented the VexPay project to Kyrgyz officials in April 2025 as a SWIFT alternative. At the time, the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Finance and Processing CJ denied any external control over the platform. A7 itself does not appear in the British justification for sanctioning Processing CJ.
A week earlier, on October 1, the US Treasury Department imposed restrictions on A7 Network. The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) noted Kyrgyzstan’s significant role in this entity’s operations: according to its data, A7 sub-agent companies processed over $17 billion in transactions from January 2025 to June 2026.
Why it matters
The main takeaway is not the restrictions themselves, but who they target. Processing CJ is a company whose sole shareholder since July 2025, according to Economist.kg, is the relevant ministry of a sovereign state.
For international partners, this can be read as a signal: formal control by a finance ministry does not eliminate sanctions risk if a payment infrastructure’s ties to sanctioned networks raise questions for regulators in other jurisdictions. It is too early to discuss practical consequences for the rest of Kyrgyzstan’s payment market: Asia-Plus only notes that financial organizations outside UK jurisdiction may also start avoiding these three specific entities due to sanctions risks.
