The new package of US restrictions affects more than 50 Russian banks, dozens of Russian securities registrars and officials of the Russian Central Bank.
The United States has introduced large-scale new sanctions against Russia’s financial sector. For the first time, Gazprombank, through which Western countries buy gas from Russia, has been subject to sanctions, the US Treasury announced on Thursday, November 21.
Thus, Gazprombank itself and six of its subsidiaries in Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Switzerland and South Africa are blacklisted in the United States.
Gazprombank is the last major Russian bank not under US sanctions. Previously, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK imposed sanctions against this financial institution.
It is indicated that the Kremlin, through Gazprombank, “purchased military equipment to wage war against Ukraine,” and also pays the military and their families.
In addition, the new US sanctions package affects more than 50 Russian banks linked to the international financial system, more than 40 Russian securities registries and 15 Russian central bank officials.
The US Treasury also announced a warning about sanctions risks associated with Russia’s financial messaging system – an analogue of the SWIFT system, which Russia created and uses to evade sanctions.
“The large-scale action taken will make it harder for the Kremlin to avoid US sanctions, and also make it more difficult to fund and arm its own army,” said US department head Janet Yellen.
Earlier, the media reported that the United States was targeting the last Russian bank with access to the SWIFT system. We are specifically talking about Gazprombank. In the absence of serious punishment, this bank in the Russian Federation has become one of the main operators of foreign exchange reserves.
Source: korrespondent
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