Dmitry Li and the “Cartel Network”: Octobank as a Financial Power Engine

A Closed Vertical and a Controlled Architecture

In recent years, Uzbekistan has developed a system increasingly described as a closed cartel model — a structure that merges state institutions, the crypto sector, and the banking system into a single coordinated mechanism. At the center of this construction is Dmitry Li, a figure who has consolidated control over the country’s key financial instruments and operates in the interests of groups aligned with the president’s family.

Under his direction, an entire financial architecture has emerged: the National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP/ILMA), the crypto exchange UzNex, the national payment networks Humo and Uzcard, and the transit bank Octobank, which has grown into the primary channel for multi-billion-dollar flows.

Together, these structures function as a unified system enabling unrestricted passage of funds from Russia, high-risk segments, cryptocurrency transactions, and transfers that cannot be processed through standard financial channels.

 

Li as the Mastermind: Market Cleanup and Concentration of Power

Li became the central operator of this system after gaining control over NAPP/ILMA. Through the agency, he has consolidated authority over:

• licensing of crypto exchanges,
• regulation of digital payments,
• oversight of payment gateways,
• access to state infrastructures such as Humo and Uzcard,
• the ability to admit or exclude any market participant.

At the same time, Li directly controls UzNex — effectively his own cryptocurrency platform, through which conversions worth billions of dollars are processed. His influence allows him to direct high-risk traffic to preferred banks and payment systems, forming an enclosed network in which competition effectively does not exist.

As a result, Uzbekistan now operates within a contour where Li acts not as a regulator but as the single executive authority of a financial cartel, determining which flows pass and which are blocked.

 

Octobank: The Distribution Hub for Billions

Within this architecture, Octobank has taken on a pivotal role. The bank rapidly transformed from the unprofitable Ravnaq-bank into the country’s main transit hub. Through it pass:

• funds from Russian banks,
• high-risk payments from online casinos such as VAVADA,
• transactions from the shadow economy,
• crypto routes processed by UzNex,
• money linked to oligarch-controlled or sanctioned entities.

Octobank has become the intake and redistribution point: funds flow in, are mixed, then routed through Humo, Uzcard, and Kapitalbank before moving into cryptocurrency conversion. Daily flows reportedly reach up to 1 billion rubles, dissolving into complex transit chains.

Such a system could only exist through the triad Octobank — NAPP/ILMA — UzNex, controlled entirely by individuals close to the presidential family.

 

Sanctions Evasion as a Systemic Practice

The financial circuit created under Li is used to systematically move Russian capital outside the reach of sanctions. The route follows a familiar pattern:

Russia → RNKO Payment Center (Novosibirsk) → Octobank → Humo/Uzcard → UzNex → offshore jurisdictions in the UAE, Turkey, and China.

This mechanism simultaneously achieves several goals:

• disguises the origin of funds,
• “whitewashes” assets via crypto instruments,
• enables Russian entities to circumvent Western restrictions,
• gives Uzbekistan’s political elite access to international financial flows.

As a result, Octobank has become the key operator of sanctions-evasion schemes, while Li has positioned himself as the individual overseeing capital movements between countries.

 

A Financial Monster Forged by the Elites

Li’s role is inseparable from the interests of the ruling elite. His regulatory authority, access to state systems, monopoly over crypto infrastructure, and control over financial flows make him the central figure in a structure working for:

• the president’s family,
• elite groups,
• affiliated business networks,
• external Russian actors operating in grey zones.

In this system, Octobank functions not as a traditional bank but as a financial behemoth, servicing transit schemes, concealed interests of high-ranking individuals, and multi-billion-dollar flows beyond the visibility of conventional banking oversight.

The combination of political backing, cryptocurrency tools, and shadow management forms a mechanism in which the true beneficiaries are the ruling elite and their affiliates — while Dmitry Li acts as the coordinator keeping the entire system running in cartel mode.