Hungary's government has decided to withdraw its delegates from the Russia-controlled International Investment Bank (IIB), business website vg.hu reported on Thursday citing sources familiar with the situation.
The government was not immediately available to confirm the report, which came a day after the United States imposed sanctions on three top officials of IIB in Budapest - two Russians and a Hungarian. Washington said Hungary had ignored U.S. concerns raised over the "opaque Kremlin platform", a bank that moved its headquarters to Budapest from Moscow in 2019.
Business website Vg.hu said the Hungarian government had come to the conclusion that participation in the bank no longer made sense and decided to withdraw its representatives.
It did not cite names but one representative at IIB is Minister for Economic Development Marton Nagy who sits on the board of governors.
Hungary, a NATO and European Union member, has fostered good ties with Moscow since 2010 under nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has avoided personal criticism of President Vladimir Putin despite condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
His stance has been criticised by U.S. and European allies, and the United States has repeatedly called on Hungary to quit the IIB.
The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have completed their withdrawal from IIB, while Romania will exit in June. At the end of January, Hungary held a 25.27% stake in IIB, the second biggest stake after Russia with 45.44% according to the website of the bank.
On Thursday U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said the U.S. had raised concerns over the presence of the bank but that unlike other NATO allies, the Hungarian government dismissed the concerns and remained committed to hosting IIB.
"We have concerns about the continued eagerness of Hungarian leaders to expand and deepen ties with the Russian Federation despite Russia's ongoing brutal aggression against Ukraine and threat to transatlantic security," Pressman said.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto visited Moscow earlier this week for talks on gas and oil supplies, and an ongoing project by Russian nuclear power agency Rosatom to expand Hungary's nuclear plant.
