The last of Russia’s major state-owned banks that still has access to the SWIFT system for international payments in major currencies is likely to face new U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. government is considering adding Gazprombank, Russia’s third-largest bank by assets, to its sanctions list. Gazprombank serves as a key platform for European gas payments. According to a report from Nikkei, which cited officials familiar with the situation, the bank could soon face blocking sanctions. If imposed, these sanctions would prevent Gazprombank from engaging in any transactions with U.S. banks. A final decision is expected by the end of November, and the United States has already informed its G7 partners, including senior European officials, about the potential move.
Gazprombank is directly owned by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, which holds a third of the bank’s shares, while another 40% is controlled by its pension fund. Despite the growing pressure on Russian financial institutions, Gazprombank has so far avoided the most severe Western sanctions. In the U.S., the bank is only prohibited from raising funds on debt markets, though some of its top executives and a subsidiary IT company are already under full blocking sanctions. The European Union has also refrained from placing Gazprombank on its blacklist, although the UK has introduced sanctions targeting the bank.
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