Hungary secures Russian sanctions exemption from US

The waiver will allow Budapest pay for gas via Gazprombank, the Hungarian foreign minister has said

Budapest and Washington have agreed to exempt Hungarian payments for Russian gas from US sanctions, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said. The transactions have been impossible since Washington cut Russia’s Gazprombank, the last Russian lender to retain access to the SWIFT interbank messaging system, off from the US banking system in November.

Thr US Treasury Department restrictions imposed blocking sanctions on more than 50 Russian financial institutions, including Gazprombank, and six of its international subsidiaries. 

“Yesterday, we received information from Washington that Gazprombank has been granted an exemption from sanctions as per our request,” Szijjarto said at a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara.

He emphasized that the waiver would ensure the security of Hungary’s natural gas supply, adding that by imposing energy-related sanctions the previous US administration had been “deliberately trying to create difficulties with natural gas supply for countries in the region.”

Szijjarto also hailed the “rational” approach adopted by US President Donald Trump towards Hungary, applauding his White House for following “common sense” and “recogniz[ing] the critical role of infrastructure” when it comes to energy supplies.

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Earlier this month, the Trump administration let so-called General License 8 expire, which had allowed energy transactions with Russian lenders. The 60-day wind-down period that provided 12 major Russian financial institutions, including the country’s central bank, limited access to US payment infrastructure was put in place under former President Joe Biden.

In January, the outgoing US administration imposed a “sweeping” round of sanctions on Russia in coordination with the UK. The measures targeted two major oil producers, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, as well as over 180 vessels allegedly used to transport Russian oil in contravention of Western restrictions.

Moscow has repeatedly slammed Western sanctions as illegal. Top officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, say the restrictions have failed to achieve their goal of destabilizing the Russian economy and isolating the country from the global financial system. Instead, the Kremlin maintains they have backfired on the nations that imposed them.