Central Bank ready to assist VEB, Gazprombank over U.S. sanctions
MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia is ready to provide support to the two Russian banks targeted by U.S. sanctions: Gazprombank and Vnesheconombank (VEB).
"Appropriate measures will be taken as needed to support these organizations in order to uphold the interests of clients, depositors and creditors," the Central Bank said on its website.
Gazprombank and VEB are included on the expanded list of Russian banks subject to Treasury Department sanctions, restricting their access to U.S. capital markets.
The sanctions prohibit U.S. investors from dealing in new debt of longer than 90 days maturity or new equity for the two banks from July 16. "As a practical matter, this step will close the medium- and long-term U.S. dollar lending window to these banks, and will impose additional significant costs on the Russian Government for its continued activities in Ukraine," the Treasury Department statement says.
"The banks are operating as per usual, providing the full range of services to clients, including wire transfers and bank card settlements," the Central Bank said.
The Central Bank did not specify the measures it is ready to undertake to assist the sanctioned banks.
Deputy Central Bank Chairman Mikhail Sukhov said the regulator had sufficient tools to maintain the stability of the sanctioned banks. The Central Bank also plans to study the legality of the sanctions.
Gazprombank has already announced that the sanctions would have no effect on bank operations, and that all commitments to clients, investors, depositors and creditors were being met on time and in full. The bank also said bank card transactions, on ruble and foreign currency accounts, were being settled as normal.
VEB has not commented on the impact of sanctions yet. VEB, which does not possess a banking license, is governed by the law on development banks.
