CSTO PA and EAG Experience in Fighting Crime Presented in Almaty

On June 6, Almaty hosted Forum of Representatives of the Sectoral Parliamentary Committees of the EAG (Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism) Member States.

The CSTO and EAG have long-standing ties of constructive interaction and cooperation, as virtually all CSTO Member States (with the exception of the Republic of Armenia) are also members of the EAG.

In his speech at the Forum, Sergei Pospelov, Executive Secretary of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, recalled the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation signed between the EAG and CSTO in 2010.

“The CSTO is working with the EAG and the Council of the Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of the CIS Member States to make a significant contribution to combating illicit developments at the supranational level,” Mr Pospelov stressed.

The Executive Secretary of the Assembly also noted the effectiveness of the implementation of the joint anti-narcotics operation Kanal, presented CSTO PA’s lawmaking experience in combating terrorism and extremism, high-tech crime, human trafficking and illegal migration.

“Yuri Chikhanchin, EAG Chairman and Director of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, and Imangali Tasmagambetov, CSTO Secretary General, noted the joint work resulting in the suspension of the work of more than 950 information outlets in 2022 and the opening of more than 1,000 criminal cases. Last year alone, under Operation Kanal, financial transactions suspected of legalizing drug proceeds totalled more than 280m roubles”, Mr Pospelov said.

The event was attended by delegations from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, China, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, India and other observer countries.

“The Forum retains the status of a permanent platform of interaction between the parliaments of the EAG member states and strives to comply with the principle of openness to all interested EAG observers, international organizations as well as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF-style regional groups”, states the Forum’s Outcome Declaration. In 2023, the Forum of Representatives of the Sectoral Parliamentary Committees of the EAG Member States was held for the second time.

As you may recall, at the initiative of Rosfinmonitoring and with its direct participation, the Assembly prepared and adopted 4 model CSTO acts: Recommendations on the Establishment of Transparency of Economic Entities, Determination of Their Beneficiary Owners and Ownership Structure in the CSTO Member States (13.10.2017); Recommendations on the Approximation of the CSTO Member States’ Laws on Confiscation of Property in the Interests of Combating Corruption, Financing of Terrorism and Other Types of Crime (5.11.2019); Recommendations on Combating Illicit Trafficking in Weapons of Mass Destruction within the Framework of International Standards of the Financial Action Task Force (30.11.2020) and Recommendations on Countering the Risks of Uncontrolled Proliferation of Virtual Assets (5.12.2022).