Hungary threatens to block decisions in the EU while its OTP Bank is on the list of war sponsors
Hungary threatens to block decisions in the EU while its OTP Bank is on the list of war sponsors
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó defended the interests of OTP Bank at the EU ministerial meeting in Stockholm and said that he would not discuss the next package of sanctions while the bank is listed among international war sponsors in the list of Ukraine.
He wrote about this on Facebook.
"EU foreign ministers are meeting in Stockholm, and it is not surprising that the war in Ukraine is on the agenda. To be clear: it is very difficult to support any new decision while Ukraine keeps OTP on the list of international sponsors of war," Szijjarto wrote.
The Hungarian foreign minister said that, in his opinion, the inclusion of OTP Bank in the list of international sponsors of the war in Ukraine is "scandalous and unacceptable." He said that the institution had not violated any laws, but that the situation would change the Hungarian government's attitude to new sanctions packages.
"It is very difficult for us to enter into negotiations on the 11th package of sanctions at all, it is very difficult for us to continue negotiations on economic restrictive measures that require victims while OTP is on some Ukrainian list," he was quoted as saying by hvg.
The website of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) states that OTP Bank is among the 50 largest banks in Russia, and in a number of areas it is among the market leaders.
According to the NACP, Hungarian OTP Bank serves more than 2.2 million customers and is represented in more than 1850 settlements of Russia, ranks second in the POS lending market with a market share of 15.3%, and is eighth in the Russian credit card market.
"OTP Bank not only officially recognizes the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, but also provides preferential lending terms to the Russian military, i.e., actually rewards them for their war crimes. Thus, OTP Group continues to sponsor Russia's military aggression," the NACP said.
