Russia has rapidly built a sophisticated parallel financial network, anchored by cross-border platforms and crypto-assets, to bypass Western sanctions following its 2024 invasion of Ukraine. Central to this infrastructure is A7, a Moscow-based cross-border payments platform launched in late 2024 that handles approximately 20 percent of Russian foreign trade payments, amounting to more than 100 billion dollars per year, according to company figures.
The Origins and Key Stakeholders Behind A7
The fintech platform operates through an unconventional partnership involving sanctioned state lender Promsvyazbank (PSB)—a primary financier of the Russian military-industrial complex—which holds a 49 percent stake in A7. The remaining structure connects to Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor. Shor, 39, fled Moldova following a 2023 conviction by the Chișinău Court of Appeal to 15 years in prison for large-scale fraud and money laundering tied to the 2014 embezzlement of roughly a billion dollars from Moldovan banks, amounting to 12 percent of the nation’s GDP. After relocating through Israel to Russia and acquiring Russian citizenship, Shor established A7.
Political backing from the Kremlin has accompanied the platform’s rise. In September 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin participated via videoconference in the inauguration of an A7 branch in Vladivostok. Blockchain transaction analyses indicate high usage volumes among Russian state administrations and corporations, with transaction activities dropping notably on weekends and outside standard business hours.
Ruble-Backed Cryptocurrencies and Trade Mechanisms
To facilitate international settlements, A7 introduced the A7A5 token, a ruble-indexed crypto-asset backed by cash deposits held within Promsvyazbank. According to a report by Foreign Policy, the asset was deliberately engineered for large-scale sanctions evasion by combining PSB’s liquidity, direct ruble-to-A7A5 conversion mechanics, and subsequent gateways into widely accepted stablecoins such as dollar-pegged Tether.
Data from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic shows that transaction volumes on the network surpassed 40 billion dollars by July 2025, with daily volumes exceeding a billion dollars. A7 utilizes a web of front companies stationed across jurisdictions including Kyrgyzstan, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong. Investigations by the Open Source Centre (OSC) and TRM Labs revealed that these intermediary entities use artificial intelligence tools to generate invoices masking the true nature of transactions—such as a March 2025 transfer of $1 million from a Kyrgyz front company to a Chinese supplier ostensibly for car polish and child car seats, which actually funded drone manufacturing components.
Integration with Chinese Markets and Global Expansion
China remains the cornerstone of A7’s architecture. Beijing has served as Moscow’s primary commercial partner since the outbreak of the war, with the Chinese yuan accounting for approximately 65 percent of the payment volume processed across the A7 network. Blockchain tracing links associated platform addresses directly to entities across China, Southeast Asia, and South Africa implicated in acquiring dual-use electronics, transport services, and military supply hardware.
A7 has increasingly shed clandestine operations inside Russia, deploying digital billboards in Moscow to market low-cost international transfers to retail clients and small businesses, styling itself as a Russian equivalent to Western Union. Russian pop singer Filipp Kirkorov featured in promotional media mocking European restrictions, while the company prominently displayed a flipper machine at the June 2025 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to symbolize bypassing Western financial barriers.
Platform executives project further global expansion, claiming a footprint across roughly 100 countries and newly established outposts in Nigeria and Zimbabwe, with targeted entries into the Middle East and Latin America. In a July interview with the state-backed TASS news agency, Ilan Shor framed the initiative around circumventing Western dominance, stating that the platform aims to free nations from centralized payment blocks.
The Proposed Gold-Backed Financial Reserve
Beyond digital currency settlements, A7 is moving into precious metals. The platform partnered with the Russian Ministry of Finance and Promsvyazbank to co-found Rosveksel, an enterprise designed to establish Russia’s largest gold bank. Deputy CEO Irina Akopyan confirmed to international news agencies that retail and corporate clients will be able to purchase physical gold directly through A7 branches and digital interfaces. Under the framework, gold purchases map directly to customer expenditures, with reserves stored securely through the Russian State Mint and Goznak ahead of planned gold-backed digital asset issuances for international trade.
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