Gazprombank, Russia's third largest bank by assets, said on Thursday new U.S. sanctions were not affecting the stability of its operations and finances, and the central bank promised support if needed.
The imposition of the new sanctions on Wednesday means Gazprombank and VEB, Russia's state-owned development bank, will no longer be able to raise medium- and long-term financing from U.S. institutions.
“Sanctions do not have any material impact on Gazprombank's operations and financial standing,” Gazprombank said in a statement.
VEB declined to comment.
Gazprombank added that it was working normally, serving all its clients' needs, including operations via international payment systems.
Earlier on Thursday, the world's two largest credit and debit card companies Visa and MasterCard said the new sanctions were not affecting their Russian operations.
Russian parliament passed a law this year forcing the two companies to keep hundreds of millions of dollars at the central bank as collateral after disruptions in bank-card payments at some Russian banks following earlier sanctions.
The central bank, which holds the world's fourth largest gold and foreign exchange reserves, promised to support the banks hit by the latest round of sanctions if necessary.
“We have an extensive number of (monetary) tools... to maintain a stable situation with banks' liquidity,” Mikhail Sukhov, a deputy chairman at the central bank, was quoted as saying by RIA news agency.
In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to support major domestic banks by allowing them to convert subordinated central bank loans received during the 2008-09 global financial crisis into perpetual debt.
