Ukraine removes Hungarian OTP Bank from list of international sponsors of war

Monday, 2 October 2023, 19:52

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has removed the Hungarian OTP Bank from the list of international sponsors of the war in order to unlock half a billion euros from the EU military fund.

Source: European Pravda with reference to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention 

Details: In its statement, the institution said that during discussions with the participation of the European External Action Service over the past few days, the bank made a number of commitments regarding its future plans in the Russian market.

According to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, having fulfilled its part of the agreements, the agency excluded the bank from the list of international sponsors of the war.

"The National Agency on Corruption Prevention expects OTP Bank to adhere to the agreement reached without delay," the NACP said.

Background:

  • Earlier, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry called Ukraine's concession to suspend the status of the international sponsor of the war for the Hungarian OTP Bank "insufficient" and expressed the position that until the financial institution is removed from the list, Hungary will not participate in further EU financing for the transfer of weapons to Ukraine.
  • The status of an international war sponsor has been suspended for OTP Bank, as well as five Greek shipping companies, whom Kyiv accused of illegally transporting Russian oil bypassing the price cap.
  • In May, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine announced that it included OTP Bank in the list of war sponsors due to the decision of the bank's management to continue operations in the Russian Federation and the de-facto recognition of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
  • The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, said that due to Ukraine's inclusion of the Hungarian OTP Bank in the list of war sponsors, Budapest "will find it very difficult" to agree with the EU on new sanctions against Russia.

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