Japarov registers successes during US trip, while investigative reports detail sanctions-busting
During his visit to New York for the UN General Assembly, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov presided over the signing of a purchase agreement for 10 locomotives made by the US manufacturer Wabtec, facilitated by the US Ex-Im Bank. Kyrgyz officials also signed a memorandum of understanding with Citibank, under which the bank will explore opening a branch in Bishkek and potentially establish corresponding banking relationships with Kyrgyz institutions. The Financial Times and the New York Times separately published investigative reports outlining Kyrgyzstan's involvement in an illicit money laundering scheme enabling Russia to evade Western sanctions, focused on the Russian financial services entity A7.
Why it matters: The roundup's connectivity theme is engaged on both sides, since Kyrgyzstan's rail and banking agreements with US firms and the sanctions-evasion scrutiny of its territory both bear on the Silk Seven-Plus plan to link the Caspian Basin to the Arabian Sea.