The UK has sanctioned companies linked to Ilan Shor for helping Russia evade Western sanctions. Entities such as A7, A71, and A7-AGENT concealed money flows, according to IPN.
British Minister for Europe and North America Stephen Doughty said:
“If the Kremlin thinks it can hide its desperate attempts to soften the blow of our sanctions by laundering transactions through dubious crypto networks, it is sorely mistaken.”
UK authorities report that the sanctioned entities utilized multiple financial infrastructures to obscure the origins of their funds and facilitate transfers to Russia. These methods included cryptocurrencies and exchanges like Garantex and, later, Grinex.
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After the sanctions, former Garantex employees launched the Grinex cryptocurrency exchange, moving billions in cryptocurrencies under a new identity. They also leveraged additional financial infrastructures, including crypto platforms, to conceal fund sources and continue transferring money for Russia, effectively circumventing international sanctions.
Shor’s A7 company issued the A7A5 token, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Russian ruble, with Promsvyazbank as a major shareholder. Marketed as “innovative financial technology,” the token functions primarily as a tool to bypass sanctions and facilitate restricted transactions.
In July 2025, Elliptic reported daily transactions exceeding $1 billion, a total volume surpassing $41 billion, and a market capitalization that tripled in two weeks to $521 million.
Following U.S. sanctions on these companies on August 14, the A7A5 token fell 13%, triggering a ripple effect: trading volumes and prices of other digital assets, including ETH and BTC, dropped, and exchanges linked to A7A5 reduced liquidity or suspended operations.