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.
Write to Alexander Kolyandr at
alexander.kolyandr@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires