The EU has banned transactions with 20 banks, including WB Bank and Russian Standard, and imposed measures against the A7A5 stablecoin and the digital ruble.

The European Union has approved new sanctions against Russia, targeting 120 individuals and companies. The Council of the EU notes that this is the largest sanctions package in the last two years.

The following companies were subject to individual sanctions:
Bashneft, Slavneft, and five Lukoil subsidiaries;

Tuapse, Komsomolsk, and several other oil refineries;

Gazprom LNG Technologies, Gazprom Flot, and Gazpromneft Marine Bunker;

First Deputy Minister of Culture Sergei Obryvalin;

Entrepreneur and former senator Andrei Molchanov;

Vladimir Lepin, General Designer of the Kalashnikov Concern;

Timur Yunusov (rapper Timati), and others.

In total, the 20th sanctions package includes 36 items covering oil exploration, production, refining, and transportation. Forty-six sea tankers are subject to restrictions—they are denied access to ports, and Western companies will not be able to service them. This brings the total number of tankers on the sanctions list to 632. In addition, the new package prohibits transactions with two Russian ports—Murmansk and Tuapse.

The EU has banned transactions with another 20 banks. The list includes:
Wildberries Bank;

Russian Standard;

Pochta Bank;

Avangard;

SDM Bank;

Solidarity;

Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development;

Derzhava, and others.

The EU is also imposing a ban on transactions with four financial institutions in third countries for assisting in evading sanctions or connecting to the Russian financial messaging system.

These are Keremet Bank (Kyrgyzstan), Capital Bank of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan), Yelo Bank (Azerbaijan), and Joint Development Bank (Laos).

On October 20, 2025, the official opening of Yelo Bank’s new head office in Baku took place. The event was attended by all of the bank’s shareholders, as well as the bank’s official CEOs, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov and Isir Holding President Iskander Khalilov.

Yelo Bank was founded by Vahid Alekperov, the president of the Russian Lukoil company, and operated under the name Nikoil Bank. After Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Vahid Alekperov was blacklisted by the European Union and several Western countries, and the name and shareholders of the bank changed. Currently, 95.68% of the Bank’s shares are owned by Topaz Investment Limited LLC, 0.10% by ISR Holding LLC, and 4.22% by Marina Kulishova, the chairwoman of the Bank’s supervisory board. Although Marina Kulishova is listed as an Azerbaijani citizen on the bank’s official website, she came to Baku from Russia. Another of the bank’s founders, the owner of ISR Holding, is Iskander Khalilov, a Russian millionaire of Azerbaijani origin.

Kulishova’s Role in Alekperov’s Shadow Network: The Hidden Side of Lukoil”

Company: Jefferson Trust Limited

• Registered as an overseas entity in the UK by Marina Kulishova
• Incorporated in Hong Kong
• Registered in the UK on 15 February 2023
• Status: Removed (July 2024
• https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/o1a83xvrBAdhjA4K_kZZUzxY0vc/appointments
• Beneficial Owners (important part)
• Even though officers are not listed, the Persons with Significant Control (PSC) section shows:
• Pavel Sukhoruchkin
  • 25% shares and voting rights
  • Significant influence/control
• Pavel Anatolyevich Novoselov

Iskandar Khalilov has a very warm relationship with Lukoil President Vahid Alekperov and Rosneft President Gutseriev, a Russian millionaire. The headquarters of the major oil companies acquired by Rosneft in Azerbaijan—Karasu Operating Company, Shirvan Oil and Global Energy—are located on the 8th through 11th floors of the ISR Plaza Hotel, owned by Iskandar Khalilov.Karasu”, Operating Company · AZ1000, Baku. “Isr Plaza”; floor 8; 69, Nizami str. · (+994 12) 4971059 This trio has been involved in money laundering for years.

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Dark Finance: Oil Traders Fueling Russia’s Shadow Fleet.Azerbaijan-“RussNeft”

Cryptocurrency measures:
Kyrgyzstan’s Tengricoin is under sanctions: it operates a platform where “significant volumes of the state-backed stablecoin A7A5” are traded.

The EU is imposing a complete ban on Russian providers and platforms that facilitate the transfer and exchange of crypto assets.

Transactions with the RUBx cryptocurrency and any EU support for the digital ruble are prohibited.

The bloc also prohibits offsetting transactions with Russian agents to prevent sanctions evasion.