The European Union has imposed sanctions on participants in the A7 cryptocurrency network, adding A7A5 project head Leonid Shumakov and Promsvyazbank chairman Mikhail Dorofeev to its lists, along with the companies A7 Agent and A71. The Insider reported on the activities of A7 and Dorofeev in April 2026, finding that the payment network, created in late 2024 by Promsvyazbank and fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, was building infrastructure in Africa for international settlements.
The Insider found A7 job listings for work in Togo and located the website of A7’s Nigerian branch, along with an Instagram page for the company’s local unit while establishing that the network was preparing to operate in Zimbabwe. The Insider also identified Dorofeev and VEB employee Ilya Malyavin at the opening ceremony of A7’s office in Nigeria. Researchers at the Centre for Information Resilience had been unable to identify them.
The Insider previously reported that Grinex, a cryptocurrency exchange registered in Kyrgyzstan and linked by the Council of the EU to Shumakov, became the successor to Russia’s Garantex exchange after it was shut down. The Insider was also able to confirm that the company issuing the ruble-backed A7A5 stablecoin, as well as several other entities linked to the A7 network, were registered in Kyrgyzstan.
In March 2025, the United States, Germany, and Finland carried out a joint operation against Garantex. The exchange’s domains were seized, more than $26 million was frozen, and its executives were charged with money laundering and violating sanctions. Soon afterward, Garantex clients and liquidity began moving to Grinex, and blockchain transaction analysis showed that the two platforms used shared infrastructure. Later, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, added A7 Agent, A7, A71, Grinex, Old Vector, and several related individuals to its sanctions list.
A7A5 is a stablecoin created by A7 together with Promsvyazbank (PSB), which is already under sanctions. A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value by being backed by another asset. Each A7A5 token is backed by ruble deposits held at PSB. A7 Agent and A71 support the network’s financial flows, disguising them as legitimate trade activity and helping bypass sanctions.
The Council of the EU said Shumakov leads A7A5, which is part of A7’s cryptocurrency infrastructure and is used in sanctions-evasion schemes. The documents also cite his links to PSB and to the companies Grinex and Old Vector. The EU said Dorofeev oversaw the development of A7 as a tool for cross-border payments, including its expansion into Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
The Financial Times previously found that approximately $9.3 billion passed through the ruble-backed A7A5 stablecoin in just four months. The UK government also said Russia was using Kyrgyzstan-based financial institutions and cryptocurrency services to evade Western sanctions.
