Two weeks after the U.S. Treasury branded A7 a transnational criminal organization, three of Russia’s most senior officials have taken seats on the Russian payments firm’s board.
Despite A7’s designation as a criminal organization by the U.S., Russia’s finance, energy and deputy prime minister have joined its board of directors.
Russian ministers join A7 board
On October 1, the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated A7 as a transnational criminal organization, listing addresses in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and Zimbabwe; now three of the country’s most senior officials have joined the A7 board.
Russia’s energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov are A7’s newest directors.
A7 was set up in 2024 by Promsvyazbank (PSB), the state lender that services Russia’s defense sector, together with Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor, who has been described by the U.S. Treasury as a convicted fraudster. PSB holds a 49% stake in the firm.
Western sanctions have cut off the banking links Russian companies used to pay foreign suppliers and trade with China, Russia’s biggest partner, has been hit especially hard as a result. A7 replaces those links by sending payments through a network of companies in other countries.
A7 says that channels like its own now handle up to 80% of the payments behind Russia’s foreign trade. As of January 2026, A7 was processing more than 2,000 transactions a day, according to the U.S. Treasury. Those transactions were worth about 13% of Russia’s foreign-trade flows in 2025, roughly 81.44 billion euros ($91.5 billion).
A7’s designation came under Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign aimed at Iran, after the U.S. Treasury said Iran’s central bank and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had used A7’s channels.
Alongside the designation, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a rule that would block transfers involving A7’s front companies, which it calls Sub-Agents. The measure would affect both fiat and crypto and would bind roughly 348,000 institutions, crypto exchanges included.
FinCEN says more than 180 entities moved at least $179.1 billion through A7’s A7A5 token between February 2025 and June 2026.
What is A7A5?
A7A5 was launched in Kyrgyzstan in 2025. It is a stablecoin backed by the ruble deposits held at PSB. PSB estimates cumulative turnover has reached about $140 billion. The company and the token have been under U.S. sanctions since August 2025.
Cryptopolitan has reported that A7 used a mix of regular bank transfers and the cryptocurrencies USDT and A7A5. The blockchain firm TRM Labs traced more than $166 billion in crypto activity linked to A7.
Notably, on October 8, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced sanctions on 38 targets, including three crypto exchanges, two payment platforms, and one individual. The UK said two of those sanctioned handled transactions with the A7 network.
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