Kyrgyzstan becomes a key hub for sanctioned car exports to Russia

Kyrgyzstan has become a key hub for rerouting exports of sanctioned cars to Russia. A Moscow-based dealership boasts a selection of luxury vehicles, obtained despite the sanctions.

For a car dealership in a country under sweeping economic sanctions, Moscow-based Berg Auto Premium offers a surprisingly wide selection of luxury vehicles.

A Rolls-Royce Cullinan, costing nearly $1 million? They’ve got it. A fresh Tesla Cybertruck? Also in stock. A prestigious Porsche Cayenne Coupé? No problem.

“We know no borders,” proclaims the dealership’s website, which claims to have over 100 cars available, collectively worth nearly $17 million.

In December, an undercover reporter from OCCRP’s partner IStories called the dealership to ask if she could buy a newly made Porsche 911 Turbo — a car that would presumably be hard to find in Moscow since the European Union banned the export of most vehicles worth over 50,000 euros to Russia in 2022. 

The salesman on the other end did not sound surprised. In fact, he told the reporter she could choose any model she wanted off Porsche’s official German website. Obtaining the vehicle was “not a problem” — first it would be sent by boat to Georgia, or by plane to Kyrgyzstan, and from there to Moscow, he said. 

“The car, the country of manufacture — everything will be European,” the salesman said. “It is complex, but everything is possible.” 

The European Union, the United States, and South Korea — another major producer of vehicles — imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia after the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But analysts say that many goods covered by the sanctions have continued to enter the country, often through Central Asia and the Caucasus. 

When it comes to supplying cars to Russia, Kyrgyzstan seems to have played a major role. Between 2020 and 2021, Kyrgyzstan imported from EU countries just over $8.8 million worth of vehicles. But over the next two years, that figure skyrocketed to roughly $730 million — more than 80 times higher — according to UN Comtrade data.  

“It’s not as if everyone in Kyrgyzstan suddenly bought a new car,” economist Carl Grekou told OCCRP’s partner Forbidden Stories. “It became a hub for vehicles heading to Russia.”

For comparison, Kazakhstan’s imports of vehicles from the EU increased from roughly $154 million in 2020 and 2021 to a little over $1 billion in the next two years, a similar increase to Kyrgyzstan in absolute terms, though smaller in relative terms. Uzbekistan’s increased from about $92 million worth in 2020 and 2021 to over $274 million worth the following two years. 

A contact listed on Berg Auto’s Instagram page, Aziz Zhyrgalbekov, confirmed that the dealership imported cars from Europe and South Korea via Kyrgyzstan. To avoid scrutiny, the cars were imported by individuals rather than by companies, he said.

“Bishkek is small. Everyone’s friends, everyone knows each other and works together. Now, as you can see, it’s not just cars — there’s a lot of stuff coming in via parallel imports,” he told OCCRP. 

Kyrgyz customs authorities did not respond to requests for comment. 

When contacted, the brands Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, and Porsche said that they comply with the sanctions against Russia, while criticizing unauthorized behavior by third-party sellers. Porsche also emphasized that it has no ties to Berg Auto.

Temur Umarov, a researcher at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that Kyrgyzstan had positioned itself as an import-export hub largely because it lacked the natural resources of neighbors such as Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. Lower Kyrgyz tariffs make it relatively cheap to clear cars there before trucking them north, he said.

“Sanctions, financial restrictions, and also different tax regimes have allowed Kyrgyzstan to become this hub,” Umarov said. “It definitely was and, in a way, continues to be a moment for Kyrgyzstan to make money from this situation.”

Russian import records show that about a third of the Kyrgyz companies listed as intermediaries for car and spare parts exports to Russia in 2023 and 2024 had Russians among their shareholders.

A Kyrgyz customs source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said that many vehicles were sent directly to Russia, with Kyrgyzstan only used to handle the paperwork. 

"We only see the brokers. The actual owners do not show up at customs,” the source said. “The vehicles are registered in the names of private individuals as personal-use cars under a simplified procedure.”

Zhyrgalbekov, the Berg Auto contact — who said he is Kyrgyz — said he also worked with other dealerships, in partnerships that started through word-of-mouth. 

“In our local market, we all know each other,” he said. “There are Kyrgyz, Russians, Belarusians. We all cooperate, help each other." 

Berg Auto Premium 

Located on a major highway not far from central Moscow, Berg Auto is a newcomer to Russia’s car scene. 

Last year, its founder, Mark Berg, told a Russian magazine that he opened the dealership on October 7, 2023, because it is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s birthday. Sporting a black shirt and what appears to be a luxury Swiss watch, the magazine portrayed Berg as a model of modern success.

In the interview, Berg said that he was able to capitalize on a “parallel import scheme” to bring cars into Russia.

Last year, reporters from OCCRP’s partner, Temirov Live, received a tip from a source who sent a screenshot of a map showing Berg Auto’s location and claimed the dealership was opened by “Kyrgyz people.”

After Temirov Live’s reporters were jailed, OCCRP looked into the lead. Reporters did not find evidence of the source’s claim, and Zhyrgalbekov denied that Berg Auto had any connection to Kyrgyz officials. But social media postings do suggest who some of the dealership’s potential suppliers in Kyrgyzstan might be. 

In one TikTok video, posted in July 2023, a man named Syrgakbek Atyshov boasted about bringing a Range Rover to Bishkek which he said would then be sent on to Moscow. 

Then, in April last year, Atyshov appeared on Berg Auto’s Kyrgyz Instagram page. He said he was in the city of Suwon, in South Korea, where he was buying an Audi RS Q8, which viewers would be able to purchase “from our friends and partners at the Berg Auto Premium showroom” within about 15 days. 

In another video, posted in December last year, Atyshov again explained how he had imported an Audi RS6 from Frankfurt to Bishkek by plane for Berg Auto.

“We delivered an AUDI RS6 PERFORMANCE from Germany ???????? by air for our friends and partners at ‘BERG AUTO PREMIUM’ (@berg_auto.kg), Moscow, Russia" he wrote in the video’s description. 

Another potential supplier appears to be Adilet Tildebayev, a young Kyrgyz man who social media posts show attending multiple Berg Auto events, and who included the Berg Auto building in the cover photo of one of his Facebook accounts. 

Tildebayev’s Russian phone number, obtained by OCCRP, was frequently listed in contact books with terms suggesting vehicle imports through Kyrgyzstan — such “Adilet Brings Cars Kyrgyz,” “Adilet Range Rover Kyrgyzstan,” and “Adilet Cars From Europe,” according to information from Getcontact, a phone number verification app. 

Atyshov, Tildebayev, and the Kyrgyz presidency did not respond to requests for comment. 

Emma Davis