17 August 2022

An investigation published by Ukrainian media Ukrayinska Pravda, using research from Ukrainian economic security organisation Economic Security Council of Ukraine, has shown that for just less than a decade, one of Belgium’s leading payment system companies laid the groundwork for Russia to dodge sanctions and keep its consumer banking online. Far from opposing the war in Ukraine, the Belgian company created a series of shell companies and structures to continue its business in Russia, working directly with sanctioned state banks.

The story of the Belgian company’s shady history goes back beyond 2014. Russian banks had a long history of cooperation with the Belgian company, which continued as Russia isolated itself on the world stage...

After Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, when Visa and Mastercard stopped providing services to Russian banks in the region, OpenWay’s technology helped create a new alternative payment system, “Mir”', which became the basis of Russia’s currency National System of Payment Cards (NSPC)...

The close cooperation with Russian banks puts the Belgian company at odds with international sanctions against the Russian financial sector. In an August press release, the company assured that it had sold its Russian subsidiary and no longer concluded business in Russia. The reality is that OpenWay merely sold its Russian subsidiary to some of the company’s Russian employees, who maintain the Mir payment system in Russia as normal. OpenWay did not leave the Russian market entirely – a move which would have paralysed Russia’s payment system.

Major sanctioned banks, such as Sberbank, Alfa Bank, VTB Bank, VEB Bank, and RNKB continue to use the OpenWay platform. It is likely that Belgian technology is still being used by Russia to pay the wages of members of Russia’s armed forces, who are actively engaged in war crimes in Ukraine. OpenWay states that it can “neither legally” nor “technically stop former customers from using the software, which they purchased in the past, installed and operated on their own infrastructure.”

The Ukrayinska Pravda investigation concluded that it was “implausible” that OpenWay’s Belgian main office would be unaware of Russian banks using its system and that any users would require the “permission” and “participation” of OpenWay. One of OpenWay’s subsidiary firms is still actively recruiting for positions in Russia.

“The corporation leverages shell companies managed by local OpenWay employees to communicate with its sub-sanctioned clients. These intermediaries continue to provide OpenWay-owned software,” the investigation notes...