Three Russian ministers join board of US-sanctioned A7, the payments firm behind a $179 billion ruble stablecoin network

Three of Russia’s most senior officials have joined the board of A7, the payments network the US Treasury designated a transnational criminal organization on October 1 for helping Moscow evade Western sanctions.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov were named directors, according to Euronext disclosures.

How A7 became a major Russian trade payment channel

Established in 2024, A7 was created by Promsvyazbank (PSB), a state-owned Russian lender that serves the country’s defence sector, alongside Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor. The US Treasury has described Shor as a convicted fraudster. PSB holds a 49% stake in the payments company.

Western sanctions have complicated payments by Russian businesses to overseas suppliers, particularly as Moscow continues trading with China, its largest commercial partner. Restrictions on banks and international financial connections have encouraged Russian companies to seek alternative ways to settle cross-border transactions.

A7 operates through a network of intermediaries and companies in other jurisdictions, offering routes for payments that may be difficult to complete through conventional channels. The US Treasury has alleged that the network supports sanctions evasion, a claim central to the US action against the firm.

The company has said alternative payment channels like its own account for as much as 80% of the payments associated with Russian foreign trade. That figure represents the company’s reported assessment, rather than an independently established measure of A7’s share of the entire market.

US Treasury figures indicate the network’s substantial scale. By January 2026, A7 was processing more than 2,000 transactions daily, according to the department. Transactions associated with the network were valued at approximately €81.44 billion ($91.5 billion) in 2025, equivalent to about 13% of Russia’s foreign-trade flows.

These figures help explain why the network has attracted regulatory attention. By connecting payments across multiple jurisdictions, the company has developed infrastructure that US authorities say can undermine the effectiveness of financial restrictions imposed on Russia.

US targets A7 board network and its financial intermediaries

The October 1 action formed part of the US Treasury’s broader Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign targeting financial connections associated with Iran. US authorities said Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had used A7’s payment channels, bringing the Russian-linked network into a wider sanctions-enforcement effort.

The designation also identified addresses associated with the network in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, underscoring the international reach of the companies and intermediaries involved.

Alongside the action, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a rule intended to prohibit certain transfers involving A7’s front companies, which it calls Sub-Agents. The proposed restrictions would cover transactions involving both traditional currencies and cryptocurrencies and could affect approximately 348,000 financial institutions and other covered entities, including crypto exchanges.

The proposal signals that US scrutiny extends beyond A7 itself to the wider network of businesses that may facilitate its transactions. If implemented, the restrictions could make it harder for participating intermediaries to move funds through the US financial system.

FinCEN has also highlighted the scale of activity associated with A7A5, the network’s ruble-backed stablecoin. According to the agency, more than 180 entities transferred at least $179.1 billion through the token between February 2025 and June 2026.

Those figures place cryptocurrency at the centre of the regulatory dispute. Rather than relying exclusively on conventional bank transfers, the network has combined traditional payment mechanisms with digital assets to move money across borders.

A7A5 stablecoin brings crypto into the sanctions dispute

Launched in Kyrgyzstan in 2025, A7A5 is a stablecoin backed by ruble deposits held at Promsvyazbank. The token is designed to maintain a value linked to the Russian currency, offering another mechanism for settling transactions outside conventional international payment channels.

PSB has estimated that cumulative A7A5 turnover reached approximately $140 billion. That figure is the bank’s reported estimate and should not be treated as directly interchangeable with the larger transaction totals cited by FinCEN, which may reflect different measurement periods and activity definitions.

The company and its token have faced US sanctions since August 2025. Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs has separately traced more than $166 billion in cryptocurrency activity linked to A7, illustrating the difficulty regulators face when tracking transactions spread across digital assets, intermediaries and jurisdictions.

The UK has also taken action against entities connected to the network. On October 8, 2026, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced sanctions against 38 targets, including three cryptocurrency exchanges, two payment platforms and one individual. British authorities said two of the sanctioned entities had handled transactions with the A7 network.

The appointments to the A7 board therefore come as Western authorities expand efforts to restrict the network’s financial connections. The presence of three senior Russian officials adds a new political dimension to the scrutiny, while the company’s payment infrastructure and stablecoin remain central to concerns about sanctions enforcement.

For regulators, the challenge is no longer limited to individual banks or cryptocurrency platforms. It increasingly involves interconnected payment networks that combine traditional finance, digital assets and international intermediaries to facilitate cross-border trade.