Ukraine excludes Hungarian OTP Bank from the list of war sponsors

Hungary called it the main condition for unblocking the EU tranche for Ukraine

Ukraine's National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) has removed Hungary's OTP Bank from the list of international war sponsors.

"During the discussions that lasted around the clock over the past few days with the participation of the EU External Action Service, OTP Bank made a number of commitments regarding its future plans in the Russian market," the statement said.

The bank was blacklisted in May due to its management's position on continuing operations in Russia.

Hungary demanded that the bank be removed from the list and refused to approve financial assistance to Kyiv under the European Peace Fund.

On Friday, the NACP announced the temporary removal of the bank from the list and expressed hope that this step would lead to Budapest unblocking the EU's €500 million aid package to Kyiv, but the Hungarian authorities said this was not enough.

"There have been no significant changes in connection with the temporary exclusion," Politico quoted Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mate Pacholai as saying on Saturday, "Until OTP Bank is completely removed from the list, Hungary will not participate in further financing of arms supplies to Ukraine.

Background. More about this – in the article "Ukraine's concessions on OTP Bank are not enough to unblock the EU tranche"

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