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Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Agency (NAZK) has placed Hungary’s OTP Bank Group on its list of “international war sponsors” for its continued cooperation with Russia, the agency’s press service reported on Thursday. The OTP Group also confirmed the fact of the classification to MTI, stressing that the OTP Group operates in compliance with all international sanctions measures and local laws in all its markets, including Russia.
In a press release, NAZK explained its decision by saying that the Hungarian bank continues to operate in Russia and is acting under the provisions of a lending law whose subjects are the Russian authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. According to the NACC, OTP provides loans to members of the Russian army on “favourable terms“, including the possibility of deferring payments when repaying loans.
The statement said that the Ukrainian national bank had earlier demanded that OTP Group, which has a stake in Ukraine worth approximately $507 million, leave the Russian market.
The OTP Group operates in compliance with all international sanctions and local laws in all its markets, including Russia
the OTP Bank’s head of communications told MTI.
The group’s bank in Russia has a 0.17 percent share in the Russian banking market, according to Russian market watchdog data, which has earned it a rating of systemically non-significant market player from the Russian central bank, he said.
OTP Group is considering all strategic options for the bank’s future, including a sale. In 2022, OTP asked the international consultancy Rothschild to find a buyer for the bank, but the legal conditions for the sale were made impossible by the Russian presidential decree issued in the meantime, he added.
The list of “international war sponsors” of the NAZK already includes 24 institutions, including Procter & Gamble, OpenWay Group, Danieli, TMS Tankers, Minerva Marine, Thenamaris Ships Management, along with OTP, Delta Tankers, Dynacom Tankers Management, Leroy Merlin, ComNav Technology, Mondi Group/Mondi PLC, eKassir, Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry, Bonduelle, Auchan, Peninsula Petroleum and the Austrian Raiffeisen banking group.
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