US exempts Turkey from Russian Gazprombank sanctions

The US  government has issued a waiver allowing Turkey to make gas payments to the Russian-owned Gazprombank, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told Middle East Eye on Friday.

Last month, the US Treasury said Gazprombank and its six foreign subsidiaries were subject to sanctions due to their involvement in the Ukraine war.

US officials accuse the bank of facilitating payments to Russian soldiers.

Turkey, which imported more than 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia last year, paid billions of dollars for these imports through the bank.

Following Washington's sanctions, Ankara explored several alternatives to process gas payments to Russia, including securing loans from Russian banks and settling payments through expenditures related to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.

However, Bayraktar told MEE that the waiver issued by the US directly covers gas payments, eliminating the need to pursue alternative methods for completing these transactions.

The US Treasury has not responded to requests to comment on the matter.

Although the US government has previously signalled a firm stance against Gazprombank, stating that no exemptions would be made, recent developments appear to suggest otherwise.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto revealed on Thursday that Budapest had also received a waiver.

"Today, they issued an exemption for gas payments related to Gazprombank, which is good news," Szijjarto said.

He added: "In the meantime, we have worked out a solution with our regional allies - an alternative payment method that does not violate sanctions but still allows for gas payments."