Hungary blocks €50 billion loan to Ukraine until after US elections

Hungary has decided to postpone the final decision on granting a $50 billion loan to Ukraine until after the US presidential election. In addition, Budapest has postponed the decision to extend EU sanctions against Russia.

This was stated by Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga, RBC-Ukraine reports citing Reuters.

“We believe that this issue, the extension of Russian sanctions, should be resolved after the US elections. We need to see in which direction the future US administration will move on this issue,” he said.

The loan, agreed by G7 leaders in June, will be serviced by the Russian central bank's assets frozen in the West, worth about $300 billion. The European Union is ready to provide up to 35 billion euros of these assets to support the loan, while the rest of the funds should come from the United States and other G7 members.

At the same time, Washington insists on revising the terms of the extension of EU sanctions against Russia, proposing to change them from every six months to three years. This is necessary to ensure stable financing of the loan that the G7 countries plan to provide.

The decision on this issue will be discussed at a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Washington in late October, but final agreements will be reached only after the November 5 elections.

Author - Olena Madiak, 08/10/2024