OREANDA-NEWS  Hungary has asked the United States for exceptions to the sanctions against Gazprombank. The head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Peter Szijjarto, announced the easing for the European country, which would allow it to continue paying for Russian gas, as quoted by the Izvestia newspaper.

The representative of Hungary discussed the possibility of easing restrictions with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the sidelines of a meeting of heads of diplomatic departments of NATO countries in Brussels.

"We have sent a request to the relevant authorities so that Gazprombank can be exempted from sanctions when making payments for natural gas," Szijjarto explained.

According to the official, there is nothing unusual in such an exception, since the United States has already made similar concessions for a number of Russian organizations through which uranium supplies are paid.

Gazprombank became a key organization for paying for Russian gas in the spring of 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered all payments to be made in rubles. For the next two and a half years, this status allowed the organization to avoid the sanctions that all other major Russian banks fell under.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against BCS Bank, Centrocredit Bank and a number of other credit institutions on November 21. More than 50 Russian banks with international connections, including Gazprombank, through which Russian gas supplies are paid for, over 40 Russian securities registrars and 15 officials, were subject to restrictions.