U.S. Treasury grants temporary exemption to Gazprombank deals related to civilian nuclear energy

Meduza.io

The U.S. Treasury Department has temporarily suspended sanctions on transactions with Gazprombank related to civilian nuclear energy. The special exemption expires on June 30, 2025. The government’s decision applies to operations conducted for projects launched before November 21, 2024 — before the United States imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, one of the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas.

Notably, the U.S. Treasury Department’s exemption does not extend to Hungary’s Paks-2 nuclear power plant project.

In November, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Gazprombank and its subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Switzerland, South Africa, and Cyprus, arguing that Russian authorities use the bank to procure equipment for the war in Ukraine and process soldiers’ salaries.

Beginning in March 2022, Gazprombank played a central role in the currency scheme developed to collect payments from European buyers of Russian gas. However, in early December, Vladimir Putin rescinded the requirement that foreign buyers pay for gas exclusively through this financial institution.

Bloomberg reported that the European Union has been pressuring the U.S. to find ways to ease sanctions on Gazprombank. According to the agency’s sources, the EU and the U.S. began discussing options and the extent of possible sanctions relief after some European governments and companies warned that the restrictions could jeopardize supply to the region. Turkey, in particular, has requested exemptions from U.S. sanctions against Gazprombank.

In early December, Bloomberg reported that E.U. officials were “pressing the U.S.” to find ways to “mitigate” American sanctions on Gazprombank, warning that they threatened the region’s energy supply security.