Kazakhstan international transfers fall 12.5% in July after EU sanctions on Zolotaya Korona

September 1, 2026 at 04:50 PM1 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

International money transfers in Kazakhstan fell 12.5% month-on-month in July 2026 to 59.1 billion tenge, according to National Bank data. The decline followed EU sanctions against Russian payment operator Zolotaya Korona, which took effect in the last week of July.

Key Facts

The number of international transactions in Kazakhstan fell 21.1% month-on-month in July to 130,300 operations.
Outbound transfers from Kazakhstan decreased 13.5% to 56.3 billion tenge, with transaction count down 21.3% to 126,200.
Inbound transfers to Kazakhstan dropped 13.1% to 15.9 billion tenge, with 38,600 transactions, down 14%.
EU sanctions against Zolotaya Korona's operator RNKO Payment Center took effect in the last week of July 2026.
From July 24, transfers from Russia via Zolotaya Korona to Kazakhstan, Georgia, Belarus and other countries became unavailable.

Transfer Volume Decline

International money transfers in Kazakhstan fell 12.5% month-on-month in July 2026 to 59.1 billion tenge, according to National Bank data reported by Exclusive.kz. The number of international transactions dropped 21.1% to 130,300 operations. Outbound transfers decreased 13.5% to 56.3 billion tenge, while inbound transfers fell 13.1% to 15.9 billion tenge. A similar decline of about 30% occurred in January, but analysts attribute that to seasonal factors.

EU Sanctions Impact

The EU imposed sanctions on RNKO Payment Center, the Russian operator of Zolotaya Korona, in July 2026 as part of a new package against Russia. From July 24, users faced restrictions on transfers from Russia to Kazakhstan, Georgia, Belarus and other countries. Several Kazakhstani banks began suspending operations through the system. Since sanctions took effect only in the last week of July, their full impact may appear in August statistics.