Gazprombank Shrugs Off U.S.'s Latest Sanctions

MOSCOW--Russia's Gazprombank said Thursday that the restrictions applied under the U.S.'s latest batch of sanctions "do not affect [its] operations and the bank is operating in normal regime."

Under the new sanctions imposed Wednesday against some Russian companies and individuals, the U.S. Treasury Department has limited Gazprombank's access to equity financing and medium- and long-term debt coming from investors and lenders with ties to the U.S. Gazprombank is one of Russia's largest lenders and is closely associated with natural-gas monopoly OAO Gazprom.

The White House escalated its sanctions Wednesday against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine and imposed penalties against the country's top commodity companies, state-run banks and arms producers.

The move followed weeks of threats from the West that Russia would face repercussions unless it helped defuse the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russia separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian government for months.

Sanctions won't affect Gazprombank's existing debt, as debt servicing and the secondary market are trading as usual, Gazprombank said. The bank said "sanctions do not have any material impact on Gazprombank's operations and financial standing: in particular, no asset freeze has been imposed."

The restrictions are softer than those imposed in March against several banks including closely held Rossiya, when a total ban on any dealing caused the international payment systems Visa Inc. (V) and MasterCard Inc. (MA) to stop their services to the banks.

Gazprombank said, "Settlements of ruble and foreign currency accounts of the clients are being processed without delay, including those processed via payment cards of international payment systems."

Two holders of Gazprombank's accounts said their cards are working normally.

Gazprombank also told its investors the new measures don't represent a blocking action and don't require U.S. people to block Gazprombank's property or interests in property.

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