A court in Brussels ruled that the charges against “Bakai Bank” were unfounded

The Brussels Commercial Court ruled in favor of Bakai Bank in its case against the non-governmental organization Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), finding the allegations of involvement in questionable transactions to be unfounded. Askat Alagozov, the press secretary to the head of state, posted this on his Facebook page.

The proceedings were prompted by ODF’s 2023 publications, in which the organization recommended imposing sanctions against the Kyrgyz bank, accusing it of participating in schemes to circumvent the embargo in favor of Russia. Bakai Bank challenged these allegations in court, claiming the dissemination of false information.

The court found that ODF had made serious and targeted accusations without backing them up with sufficient and concrete evidence. As a result, the organization was ordered to remove the disputed materials, publish the full text of the court ruling on its website’s homepage, and reimburse court costs.

Against this backdrop, the situation surrounding other banks in Kyrgyzstan remains tense. For instance, Keremet Bank has been subject to U.S. and U.K. sanctions on suspicion of circumventing restrictions imposed against Russia. Similar measures by the U.K. have also been applied to Capital Bank.

It is important to note that the sanctions are of an accusatory nature, meaning the banks are merely suspected of circumventing sanctions. Neither the U.S. nor the U.K. has yet made specific evidence of violations publicly available.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has repeatedly denied such allegations, stating that they are based on unreliable information disseminated by a number of non-governmental organizations and interested parties. The head of state has also expressed his willingness to conduct an independent international audit of the banking sector to objectively assess its activities.

The Brussels court’s ruling in the “Bakai Bank” case strengthens Kyrgyzstan’s position in the international legal arena and demonstrates its readiness to defend the interests of domestic businesses abroad. Against the backdrop of a lack of public evidence regarding sanctions cases, the country’s authorities continue to insist on the transparency and legality of the republic’s financial institutions.