Russia has built a sophisticated method to evade sanctions and launder capital through beans into Europe, Kyiv Insider
Russia’s Sberbank, despite being disconnected from SWIFT and under sanctions, transfers funds into the EU using Revolut and N26 1/
Russia’s Sberbank, despite being disconnected from SWIFT and under sanctions, transfers funds into the EU using Revolut and N26 1/
These transactions go unnoticed or appear as regular personal transfers - a deliberate, layered workaround that undermines the sanctions regime 2/
The transfer scheme relies on intermediaries in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. Rubles are sent to these jurisdictions, converted into cryptocurrency, and then rerouted through payment providers to reach EU accounts
The process masks the origin and nature of the money 3/
The process masks the origin and nature of the money 3/
Sberbank’s app makes it look like the sender is transferring money directly to a European card. But on the recipient’s end, the source is murky: unknown names from Dushanbe, Tashkent, or ghost companies like Qpayoyt appear on the transaction records 4/
The technical infrastructure appears deliberate and industrial: up to 3 million rubles monthly per person, low commissions, and plausible deniability from Sberbank’s side, claiming “partner banks” handle it. Yet no EU countries are listed officially 5/
Revolut and N26 now acknowledge the risk. Revolut promises to freeze accounts if abuse is found. N26 says it monitors such behavior. But unless regulators act systemically, Russian banks will continue using the same infrastructure exploited by illegal betting and crypto scams 6/
Russia adapts faster than sanctions do. But this is also EU institutional complacency - morally unacceptable and threatening national security 7X
Source: kyivinsider.com/sberbank-has-f…
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