The US has partially authorized transactions with a number of Russian banks. This follows from a license published by the US Department of the Treasury.
The US Treasury Department reports that restrictions are being lifted from several credit institutions, including St. Petersburg Bank, Zenit, Gazprombank, Alfa-Bank, Sberbank, Sovcombank, VEB, and VTB, as well as the Ingosstrakh insurance company. The decision is temporary: operations are permitted until March 12, 2025, and exclusively for purposes related to energy.
Energy operations cover a wide range of activities, including the extraction, processing, and transportation of oil and gas, as well as the production of renewable energy. At the same time, restrictions on transactions with Russia's sovereign debt remain in effect.
Stanislav Mitrakhovich, a leading expert at the National Energy Security Fund, warned against hasty conclusions about a possible softening of US sanctions policy. According to him, such temporary exceptions are a common practice in American policy, aimed at reducing the risks of excessive use of sanctions. This allows Washington to adapt sanctions, extending exceptions if necessary or canceling them if the situation changes.
The expert noted that exceptions to sanctions are often applied when restrictions begin to create problems for the US itself or its allies. This is especially true for the energy sector, where a significant portion of payments continued to go through Russian banks.
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