Türkiye has been granted an exemption for gas payments to Russia after the United States imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Friday.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Gazprombank on Nov. 21, creating an obstacle for European buyers of Russian gas, including Türkiye, Hungary and Slovakia, which had been using the bank to make payments.
They have since been seeking clarification and exploring other ways to pay.
Gazprombank was the largest remaining Russian bank not previously blocked by the U.S. Treasury. It is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom.
Türkiye imports almost all its gas requirement and Russia is the top supplier, providing more than 50% of the country's pipeline imports. Ankara's pipeline gas imports from Russia stood at 21.1 billion cubic meters last year.
Russia has faced a barrage of sanctions from Western countries in response to its military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022, including an oil price cap designed to curb the Kremlin's revenues.
Türkiye had requested an exemption in discussions with U.S. officials so that it can continue paying for Russian gas imports via Gazprombank.
The U.S. on Thursday also granted a waiver to Hungary, which mainly relies on Russian oil and gas.
"Today, they have given an exemption for gas payments relating to Gazprombank, which is good news, but in the meantime, we have worked out a solution with our regional allies, an alternative mode of payment, which does not violate sanctions but allows payments (for gas)," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
He did not say how that would work.
Slovakia's main gas buyer, state-owned SPP, said it had not received notification of a gas payment exemption.
Separately on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin published a decree allowing for foreign buyers of Russian gas to pay in rubles in other Russian banks, not only via Gazprombank, until April 1, in an attempt to bypass the sanctions.
Russian energy supplies have been increasingly in focus, while Moscow's transit deal with Ukraine, through which around half of the Russian gas is supplied to Europe, expires on Dec. 31.
On Thursday, Putin said it was now clear there would be no new gas transit deal with Kyiv to send Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe, but that Russia would cope with that.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday Ukraine could consider continued transit of Russian gas on the condition that Moscow does not receive money for the fuel until after the war.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would be open to carrying another country's gas through its infrastructure to Europe, but it would need assurances that the gas was not merely re-labeled Russian fuel.
Proposals have emerged in recent months over the possible sale or shipment of gas by Azerbaijan using the same infrastructure. The proposal would see Baku buy gas from Russia and then ship gas across Ukraine and onto the European Union.
Without naming the Caucasus country directly, Zelenskyy ruled out such a scheme on Thursday.
The European Union says 69% of Slovakia's gas imports and 60% of Austria's came from Russia in 2023.
Experts quoted by the Russian business daily Vedomosti, estimate the loss of Ukrainian transit routes could cost the company another $5.5 billion a year, or 6% of its revenue.
Earlier this month, Putin canceled the option for buyers of Russian gas to convert currency into rubles at Gazprombank, still not solving the payments issue, according to the European buyers of Russian gas. It's still not clear whether the latest move will facilitate the payments.
"In accordance with the document, gas buyers can pay for gas in rubles to Gazprom's account in Russian banks until April 1, 2025," Gazprombank said in a statement.
Slovakia, Austria and Hungary will be most affected by the expected stoppage of Russian gas exports via Ukraine, while Hungary still receives Russian gas from the south, via Türkiye's TurkStream pipeline on the bed of the Black Sea.
Moldova's separatist pro-Russian Transdniestria region will also stop getting gas from the east. Russian gas is critical for Transdniestria's residents and to supply a thermal plant that provides most of the electricity for government-controlled areas of Moldova.
