Enforcement of new sanctions against the Russian bank Gazprombank, announced today (21.11.2024) their finance ministry, as President Joe Biden increases retaliation against her for invading Ukraine, before leaving the White House. This move essentially repels Gazprombank – one of Russia’s largest banks – from the American banking system, prohibits its transactions with Americans and commits its assets to the US. Gazprombank is partly owned by the state gas company Gazprom. Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has urged the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, in which payments for gas are filed by its customers Gazprom in Europe. The new sanctions come a few days after the Biden government allowed Kiev to use US ATACMS missiles to hit Russian territory. On Tuesday (19.11.2023), which was the thousandth day of the war, Ukraine used long-range missiles supplied by the US for such attacks on Russia. The Ministry of Finance also imposed sanctions on 50 small and medium-sized Russian banks to limit the country’s connections to the international financial system and prevent it from using it to pay for the technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions maintaining a response relationship with targeted banks “have a significant risk of sanctions”. “This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to bypass American sanctions to fund and equip its army,” Finance Minister Janet Yelen said. “We will continue to take decisive measures against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine”. Together with the sanctions, the Ministry of Finance also issued two new general authorisations allowing US entities to terminate transactions involving Gazprombank, including other financial institutions, and to take measures to divest debt or shares issued by Gazprombank. The sanctions were imposed under Biden’s executive decree. It was not immediately clear whether elected President Donald Trump could lift them if he decides to take a different stance towards Russia. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Ministry of Finance placed debt and equity restrictions on 13 Russian companies, including Gazprombank, Sberbank and the Russian Agricultural Bank. The U.S. Treasury also worked to provide Ukraine with funds from extraordinary revenues from frozen Russian assets. Gazprombank is a pipeline for Russia through which it buys military material for its war against Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury said. The Russian government also uses the bank to pay its soldiers, including for special mission grants, and to pay compensation to the families of soldiers killed in the war. The government believes that the new sanctions improve Ukraine’s position on the battlefield and its ability to achieve a just peace, said a source who knows the matter. Source: RES – ICM
US: New Penalties at Russian Bank Gazprombank
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