The Russian financial institution Asia-Pacific Bank (ATB), owned by former president Nazarbayev, may end up on the US sanctions list.
According to Nege.kz, around 30% of 320 Russian banks have been hit with restrictions, and this list grows every month.
"Currently, 'ATB Bank' is not on the sanctions list, but by the end of the year the situation could change. OFAC (the US Office of Foreign Assets Control) is stepping up its efforts to block financial institutions in Russia," a Nege source reported.
In September 2021, the Kazakhstan-based entity Pioneer Capital Invest, controlled by the Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation, bought 100% of ATB's shares from the Bank of Russia for 14 billion rubles (around 75 billion tenge). Before this, the bank had been transferred to the regulator following a bailout.
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For reference: a bailout is a set of measures to avoid bankruptcy. One of its main steps is to reassess and change the company's management strategy.
It has become known that in 2023, ATB posted a net profit of 8.18 billion rubles (around 44 billion tenge).
Meanwhile, Nege journalists believe that since ATB has from the outset been operating not in dollars but mainly in yuan, sanctions from the US should not follow.