US imposes sanctions on Russian Gazprombank and its subsidiary in Kazakhstan

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions against Russian Gazprombank and its representative office in Kazakhstan over their role in the war in Ukraine, according to an updated list of sanctioned entities on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) website.

Gazprombank is one of the biggest commercial banks in Russia. It operates branch offices in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, India and China. Along with the bank proper, the new list of sanctioned entities includes all its branches, except the office in Uzbekistan.

According to data from the Gazprombank website, its Kazakhstani subsidiary is headed by Askar Aspandiyarov.

The new U.S. sanctions have also hit over 50 Russian banks with international connections, including BCS Bank, Centrocredit Bank, Commercial Bank Kremlyovskiy, Sinara and Iturup. The list also includes 11 top managers of the Bank of Russia, including two Deputy Chairs, Dmitry Tulin and Vladimir Chistyukhin; Director of the National Payment System Department Alla Bakina; and Director of the Financial Stability Department Elizaveta Danilova, among others. Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina has been under U.S. sanctions since 2022.

In January, some media outlets reported that Gazprombank suspended the processing of money transfers denominated in Kazakhstan’s currency, the tenge. Later, the media reported that the bank resumed processing transactions in tenge but started charging fees for such transfers. However, Gazprombank’s website mentions no corresponding bank supporting transactions in tenge.

In 2023, Kazakhstan’s subsidiary of Gazprombank transferred $42,552 to the state budget in taxes, which marked a 16% increase compared to 2022 ($36,531). In 2024, the bank has transferred $17,061 so far, while 2020, with $42,753, was a record-high year in terms of the bank’s tax payments to the budget.