Hungary Also Granted Sanction Exemption on the 18th
Turkey is exempted from U.S. sanctions imposed on payment transactions for Russian natural gas.
On the 20th (local time), according to local media including Bloomberg, Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkey's Minister of Energy, stated in a briefing that the U.S. has allowed Turkey to remit gas import payments through Russia's Gazprombank.
Gazprombank is a subsidiary of Gazprom, the Russian state-owned natural gas company, and serves as a major channel for natural gas payment transactions between Russia and various European countries.
So far, while the U.S. has imposed strong economic sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, it had not directly sanctioned Gazprombank considering Europe's dependence on Russian fossil fuels. However, last month, Gazprombank was eventually added to the U.S. Treasury and State Department sanctions list.
This raised concerns among European countries regarding the payment procedures for energy costs, and Turkey reportedly requested the U.S. to take measures, fearing that it could become a target of sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile, Hungary also received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Gazprombank transactions on the 18th.
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