On November 21, the US Treasury Department's Foreign Assets Control Office introduced a new package of sanctions against individuals and legal entities in the Russian banking sector.
Points of attention
- The US introduced new sanctions targeting Russian banks, including Gazprombank, to limit Russia's ability to send military equipment to the war in Ukraine.
- State-owned banks and officials of the Russian Federation, such as Gazprombank and its subsidiaries, were among those sanctioned by the US Treasury Department.
- The sanctions, which aim to weaken the Russian military machine, include restrictions on transactions with American banks for Gazprombank, impacting its operations and gas settlements with Europe.
- The possibility of blacklisting Gazprombank, the third-largest bank in Russia by assets, raises concerns about the future outlook for the Russian banking sector and its ties with international financial systems.
- The adoption of these sanctions reflects ongoing tensions between the US and Russia, with implications for broader geopolitical dynamics in the region and beyond.
The USA adopted new sanctions against the banking sector of the Russia
In particular, Gazprombank and its six foreign subsidiaries were sanctioned. The US Treasury noted that this bank is a channel through which Russia purchases military equipment to wage war against Ukraine.
The Russian government also uses Gazprombank to pay its soldiers, including combat bonuses, as well as to pay compensation to the families of Russian soldiers who died in the brutal war against Ukraine.
In addition to Gazprombank , the following were also subject to sanctions:
"BKS Bank",
"DOM. RF",
"Brotherly People's Bank",
Bank "Kremlivskyi",
Bank "Tsentrokredit" and a number of other credit organizations.
Among the natural persons sanctioned were the first deputy heads of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Volodymyr Chistyuhin and Dmytro Tulin, and the head of the National Payment System Department of the Central Bank, Alla Bakina.
Today's sanctions, which target Russia's largest unsanctioned bank, as well as dozens of other financial institutions and officials in Russia, will further weaken the Russian military machine.
Gazprombank will fall under US sanctions
The last of Russia's major state-owned banks, Gazprom, which retains access to the SWIFT system and settlements in major world currencies, will be subject to new US sanctions.
The administration of US President Joe Biden is considering the possibility of blacklisting Gazprombank (GPB), the third-largest bank in Russia by assets, which is a "hub" for gas settlements with Europe.
According to the sources of the media resource, "Gazprom" will be prohibited from any transactions with American banks. A decision on sanctions will be made by the end of November — the United States has informed its G7 partners about it, the publication's sources, including high-ranking European officials, said.
