A Protocol on Cooperation between the CSTO Secretariat and the Council of Heads of CIS Financial Intelligence Units has been signed

On May 29, 2019, the CSTO Acting Secretary General Valery Semerikov took part in a meeting of the Council of Heads of CIS Financial Intelligence Units, which was held in Moscow at the Metropol Hotel.

The CSTO Acting Secretary General V. Semerikov met with the Chairman of the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Director of the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Financial Monitoring Yuri Chikhanchin. A Protocol on Cooperation between the CSTO Secretariat and the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of the Commonwealth of Independent States was signed.

During the meeting, V.Semerikov briefly presented information on current challenges and threats to collective security and measures taken in the CSTO format to combat terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, illegal migration, human trafficking and other types of transnational organized crime, including using advanced information and communication technologies.

In his speech, he stressed that one of the most important activities of the CSTO is a comprehensive counteraction against these destructive facts, including by influencing their financial and economic component.

“Illegal transactions are not only a threat themselves, but they also cause a damage to the economy, they are closely related to the most dangerous manifestations of criminal activity,” said V. Semerikov.

In addition, attention was focused on the fact that practical cooperation with the financial monitoring services of the Organization's member states has been developing successfully over the past decade, including the CSTO operations such as "Channel", "Nelegal", "PROXI". There are good prospects for cooperation in the framework of the "Mercenary" project.

The rich experience of partnership in this field has been gained with mutually beneficial cooperation with the Eurasian Group on countering the laundering of criminal proceeds and the financing of terrorism.

“Today it is necessary to step up the efforts of the entire world community in the interest of undermining the economic foundations of terrorism, the drug business and other crimes that pose a threat to international peace and security,” said Valery Semerikov.

The Chairman of the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of the Commonwealth of Independent States Y. Chikhanchin noted that within the Council work is underway to identify professional “laundering” sites and schemes, and the operation under the provisional name “Barrier” is successfully carried out on a regular basis, the purpose of which is to identify those involved in international terrorist organizations, as well as their financial and ideological centers. In his speech, he stressed that the Council is interested in cooperation with the CSTO Secretariat and expanding the forms of interaction.

CSTO press secretary Vladimir Zainetdinov          +7-495-795-27-10    +7-495-621-33-23-phone/fax    E-mail: odkb-pressa@gov.ru