Türkiye announces US permission not to impose sanctions against Russian Gazprombank
Photo: Türkiye claims an exception from the US sanctions against Gazprombank (Getty Images)
Türkiye says the US has granted Ankara an exception to sanctions against Gazprombank. This will allow the country to pay for Russian natural gas imports without violating international restrictions, Bloomberg reports.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the agency that after a series of talks with US representatives, the country received permission to continue payments through Gazprombank.
This decision removes the potential threat of sanctions for Türkiye, which still covers more than a third of its natural gas needs through supplies from Russia.
Bloomberg noted that the US Treasury Department has not yet commented on the situation.
Earlier, Hungary made a similar statement. RBC-Ukraine reported that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the United States had granted an exception to the sanctions against Gazprombank, which would allow Budapest to continue paying Russia for gas through this bank.
Sanctions against Gazprombank
In November, the United States imposed sanctions on the Russian Gazprombank. At that time, Russian financial institutions BCS Bank and CentroCredit were also subject to restrictions.
Washington's move was aimed at increasing pressure on Moscow to continue its full-scale war against Ukraine.
However, despite the sanctions, Gazprombank remains the key financial institution authorized to make payments for Russian gas. This is becoming a problem for those countries that have not yet refused to buy Russian gas.
Some EU countries are persuading the United States to ease sanctions against the Russian Gazprombank.
