US Sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank Subsidiaries Change Nothing

The sanctions imposed by the United Stated on subsidiaries of Russia's Gazprombank do not change anything about in terms of the bank's operation, the bank's press service said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the US Treasury added a number of Gazprom entities and subsidiaries of Gazprombank, as well as of Bank of Moscow and several other financial companies, to the US sectoral sanctions over the Ukrainian conflict.

"All enumerated subsidiaries of Gazprombank Group have been under US sectoral sanctions de facto due to the fact that Gazprombank has an over-50-percent share in them. Thus, today's announcement of the US Treasury changes nothing about the actual situation either for Gazprombank, or for the mentioned entities," the press service told RIA Novosti.

The United States has also imposed sanctions on 18 construction, transportation and defense entities operating in Crimea, including major Russian construction company Mostotrest, which is involved in the construction of the Kerch Bridge to connect the Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia.

Russia has been targeted by Western sanctions over Crimea's reunification with Russia in 2014 and allegations of Moscow's involvement in the crisis in the southeast of Ukraine. The Russian authorities has denied any involvement in the Ukraine conflict. Crimea decided to rejoin Russia in a referendum, in which over 96 percent of the peninsula's population supported the move.