A Kyrgyz commercial bank has won a lawsuit in Brussels against a European non-governmental organization (NGO) that accused it of facilitating sanctions evasion, announced Askat Alagozov, press secretary for the Kyrgyz president, Economist.kg reports.
The court found the foreign foundation's arguments unfounded and ordered it to officially refute the published information.
Bakai Bank's lawsuit against the Polish-Belgian Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) began after the publication of materials in which the NGO recommended imposing international sanctions against the financial institution. The organization alleged that the bank was allegedly involved in schemes to circumvent the embargo in favor of Russia.
The French-speaking Brussels Enterprise Court concluded that the foundation had made serious accusations without providing specific evidence. The court ordered ODF to remove the disputed articles, post the text of the court decision on the main page of its website, and reimburse its costs.
"At the same time, another Kyrgyz bank, Keremet Bank, was sanctioned by the US and UK for suspected of evading restrictions imposed on Russia. Kapital Bank, in turn, was also sanctioned by the UK. An important detail should be noted here: the sanctions are accusatory, meaning the banks are only suspected of evading sanctions. Neither the US nor the UK have yet publicly provided specific evidence of violations," Alagozov noted.
According to him, President Sadyr Japarov has repeatedly denied these accusations and emphasized that sanctions against domestic banks are based on false information disseminated by certain non-governmental organizations and unscrupulous individuals. In this regard, the head of state expressed Kyrgyzstan's readiness to conduct an independent international audit of the country's banks for a full and objective review.
"The court decision on Bakai Bank serves as convincing evidence of Kyrgyzstan's commitment to international law and its willingness to protect the interests of domestic businesses in foreign jurisdictions." Despite the lack of concrete evidence to justify sanctions against a number of banks, the state's position remains consistent: Kyrgyzstan is always ready to confirm the full transparency and legality of its financial institutions," he concluded.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
April 7, 2026