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At the end of September, two events concerning Octobank occurred that will have far-reaching consequences. The first is that Iskandar Tursunov increased his stake in Octobank to 99.2%. The second is that Member of the European Parliament Adrian-George Axinia submitted an official request to the European Commission regarding Octobank’s involvement in circumventing anti-Russian sanctions.

These two events are undoubtedly connected. As reported by «Radio Liberty», MP Axinia stated that Octobank holds a monopoly position in Uzbekistan in the field of cross-border financial operations, including money transfers and P2P payments. In this regard, she has asked the Commission to investigate the role of this bank when it comes to compliance with the sanctions regime against Russia.

It is known, and the MP also draws attention to this, that Octobank is controlled by the National Agency for Advanced Projects under the President of Uzbekistan (ILMA), headed by Dmitry Li, who acts in the interests of the family of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. At the same time, Octobank is actively used to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia and to withdraw and launder Russian capital.

In her letter to the European Commission, the MEP also emphasizes Octobank’s connection to China – since last year, the bank has become a strategic partner of the Chinese online payment system Tenpay. Additionally, the main task of ILMA is to develop and implement policies in the field of crypto-asset circulation, with Octobank being one of the key operators in this market.

In this context, questions arise about the persona of Octobank’s owner, who is the Chairman of the Board of JSC «Octobank», Iskandar Bakhtinovich Tursunov. In August 2023, he acquired a 72.05% stake in JSC «Ravnaq Bank», thereby quadrupling his share in the bank and gaining full control over it.

Following this, Ravnaq Bank was renamed Octobank, and Tursunov continued to purchase its shares. After some time, Tursunov acquired an additional 27% of shares, bringing his stake to 99.16%. However, it seems that Tursunov is attempting to buy out all remaining shares to reach a 100% ownership. So far, he has managed to consolidate 99.2% in his hands.

In light of all this, many are asking: who is Iskandar Tursunov, the owner of Octobank, which is actively involved in laundering and withdrawing Russian capital from under sanctions, and which is clearly linked to the family of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev? Some market experts call Iskandar Tursunov nothing more than a nominal owner, acting in the interests of the president’s daughter, Saida Mirziyoyeva, and her husband Oybek Tursunov, who hold the highest positions in the country. Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s daughter serves as the first assistant to the President of Uzbekistan, while his son-in-law, Oybek Batyrovich Tursunov, is the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Whether Oybek Tursunov and Iskandar Tursunov are relatives remains unknown.

However, it is known that Iskandar Tursunov’s official biography contains inconsistencies and gaps that raise unanswered questions. For instance, the website Bankers.uz provides the following information about him:

In other words, if this information is to be believed, Iskandar Tursunov has worked at Ravnaq Bank since 2012 and, having saved his salary for 11 years, bought a controlling stake in its shares. This already seems dubious. But that’s not all – here is an excerpt from the UK register of legal entities:

If this excerpt is to be believed (and why not trust the law-abiding British?), it turns out that Iskandar Tursunov was appointed director of the London-based company KREATIVE KAFE LIMITED (liquidated in July 2024) on February 2, 2016.

The company was engaged in «activities in the field of information technology services», which is closely related to the cryptocurrency market controlled in Uzbekistan by Dmitry Li. The London firm headed by Iskandar Tursunov effectively ceased its activities in July 2023. A few weeks later, a person named Iskandar Tursunov became the owner of a controlling stake in JSC «Ravnaq Bank», which was immediately renamed Octobank, and Tursunov continued to buy up its shares. Various rumors circulate about the sale of shares by other owners, but the former owners themselves remain silent about any pressure from the presidential family.

Be that as it may, Iskandar Tursunov has concentrated full control over the bank in his hands, disposed of problematic assets by simply writing off debts, and propelled Octobank to the top of Uzbekistan’s banking market. Notably, Ravnaq Bank had a very large portfolio of non-performing loans – as of August 1, 2023, 80.5% of its issued loans (212 billion out of 263 billion soums) were in the problematic portfolio. The new owner of the bank simply writes them off, without even attempting to sell them for at least 10% of their value, which is a common practice in such cases.

Yet, despite such generosity, the bank does not go bankrupt as one might expect; instead, it rises to the top of Uzbekistan’s banking system, becoming a strategic partner first of the state of Uzbekistan – all products controlled by the National Agency for Advanced Projects under President Dmitry Li are tied to it: Kapitalbank, the Humo payment system, Uzcard processing, and the UzNex crypto exchange.

Then it suddenly becomes clear that Octobank actively accepts payments from Russian banks such as Promsvyazbank, Gazprombank, VTB, MTS Bank, MIN Bank (merged with the state-owned Promsvyazbank in 2023), and «Russian Standard» Bank. Following this, Octobank becomes a strategic partner of the Chinese online payment system Tenpay.

It is logical to assume that in this way, «dirty» Russian money enters Octobank, headed by Iskandar Tursunov, and then flows to China. It also flows to other countries, including Turkey and the UAE. But what is the role of the Chairman of the Board and owner of 99.2% of JSC «Octobank», Iskandar Bakhtinovich Tursunov, in all this? It is clear that he signs all of Octobank’s documents. But in whose interests is he acting? It is highly doubtful that Iskandar Tursunov is an independent figure acting solely on his own initiative. Judging by everything, the experts are right – Iskandar Tursunov is a nominal holder of Octobank’s shares, which in reality belong to the family of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Through the bank itself, a traffic of Russian money is established, allowing it to evade sanctions. This conclusion is reinforced by Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s recent statement at the «Central Asia – Germany» summit held in Astana on September 17, where he said that the policy of sanctions is becoming a serious challenge for implementing reforms in the region.

However, Mirziyoyev himself does not sign any banking documents. Neither do his daughter nor son-in-law. Iskandar Tursunov, the head and nominal holder of Octobank’s shares, does this for them. What will this mean for him if the European Commission launches an investigation based on the statement by MEP Adrian-George Axinia? Uzbekistan is not Russia; one cannot hide from international justice there. Perhaps Russia will take Iskandar Tursunov in, but that is also quite a prospect.

Ashley Miller