US imposes sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank, which may deprive it of access to SWIFT

The United States has imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, one of the few major Russian lenders not yet blacklisted, in an effort to limit the Kremlin's ability to finance its war effort.

Source: The Financial Times

Details: The list announced on Thursday effectively excludes state-owned Gazprombank, the main conduit for Russian energy payments, and its six international subsidiaries from the global financial system.

According to the United States, Russia used Gazprombank as a conduit for the purchase of military equipment for the war in Ukraine, as well as for payments to soldiers and compensation to the families of those killed in the fighting.

The UK and Canada imposed sanctions on Gazprombank in the first weeks of the war in 2022.

Previously, the US had avoided following suit, mainly so that European countries could continue to pay for Russian gas supplies.

The US sanctions will close one of Russia's few remaining windows for international banking transactions by prohibiting Gazprombank from conducting dollar transactions.

The US has also imposed sanctions on more than 50 small Russian banks and 40 securities registrars, as well as 15 technocrats.

Background: The United States is considering imposing sanctions on Russia's largest state-owned bank, Gazprombank, which still has access to the SWIFT international system and foreign exchange payments.

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