Turkey and Hungary said they have received exemptions for gas payments to Russia after the United States imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, removing a major hurdle to the gas trade with Moscow, Reuters reported.
In November, as a result of the Ukraine conflict, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank, one of the country’s largest banks, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom’s customers in Europe.
Turkey, Hungary and Slovakia had been using the bank to make gas payments and have since been seeking clarification and exploring other ways to pay. Turkey and Hungary asked the United States for an exemption.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, in response to a question from Reuters on Friday, said an exemption had been granted.
Turkey imports almost all of its gas requirement, with Russia as the top supplier, providing more than 50 percent of the country’s pipeline imports, or 21.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday that the US had granted the country, which also mainly relies on Russian oil and gas, a gas-payment exemption.
The US Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the waivers.
Slovakia’s main gas buyer, the state-owned SPP, said it had not received such a notification.
Russian President Vladimir Putin published a decree on Thursday allowing foreign buyers of Russian gas to pay in rubles at other Russian banks until April 1.
Both Turkey and Hungary receive Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea.
Supplies to Slovakia currently go via Ukraine but a transit deal between Moscow and Kyiv expires on Dec. 31. Ukraine has previously ruled out extending the contract and Putin said on Thursday that it was clear it would not be renewed.