Turkey and Hungary said they have received exemptions for gas payments to Russia after the United States imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, removing a major hurdle to the gas trade with Moscow.

Turkey imports almost all its gas requirement, and Russia is the top supplier, providing more than 50 per cent of the country’s pipeline imports. Turkish pipeline gas imports fr

Turkey is exploring several alternatives to process gas payments to Russia following Washington's sanctions on Gazprombank last month, including taking loans from Russian banks and settling payments through expenditures related to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.

The exemptions allow both countries to continue paying for Russian gas supplies through the sanctioned bank. According to the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, Ankara has held a “series of talks” with U.

The United States has exempted Turkey from sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank so that it can continue to pay for gas imports, the Turkish energy minister told Bloomberg. Washington sanctioned dozens of Russian banks in November,