The National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) says the terrorists, who killed four foreign cyclists in the Danghara district in 2018, were financed via a popular Russian payment system Zolotaya Korona (Golden Crown).  

The first deputy chairman of the NBT, Jamoliddin Nouraliyev, told reporters in Dushanbe yesterday that  after the bank became aware of the issue, a new payment system, the National Processing Center, took over the transmission of money transfers from abroad in early December.

NBT top manager also noted that the wiring companies profiting from the large volume of remittances being sent home by migrant laborers, who predominantly live in Russia, are failing to perform necessary checks.

Zolotaya Korona has for years occupied a dominant position in Tajikistan’s market.  Until December, the company reportedly accounted for 82 percent of the volume of international money transfers in the country. 

To date, other companies, including Russia’s Unistream and Kontakt, as well as U.S.-based Western Union, have agreed to comply with the NBT’s demands so that they may continue to operate in Tajikistan.