The head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry allowed the blocking of sanctions against the Russian Federation due to the recognition of OTP Bank as a “sponsor of the war”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó called outrageous the decision of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) of Ukraine to include the Hungarian OTP Bank in the list of “international sponsors of the war.” He pointed out that the actions of the Ukrainian authorities may affect the issue of Hungary’s support for EU anti-Russian sanctions.

On his Facebook page (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), Mr. Szijjarto indicated that OTP Bank’s activities are carried out in accordance with international law. “At the meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers, I made it clear that it is very difficult for us to support any measures while OTP Bank is on this Ukrainian list,” he added.

On January 11, the National Bank of Ukraine turned to international banks with a demand to finally leave the Russian market. OTP Bank was also on the list of credit institutions to which the demand was addressed. NAPC of Ukraine contributed OTP Bank to the list of “international sponsors of the war” in early May. As a reason, the department indicated that the financial institution continues to operate in Russia.