Russians owe billions to Hungary: America might be the key to getting it

The Russia-led International Investment Bank, which was headquartered in Budapest for years, owes billions to Hungary. But they refused to pay because the Americans froze Russian assets after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They recommended that the Hungarian government should turn to the Americans if they wanted to access that money.

According to Menedzsment Fórum, the International Investment Bank owes billions of forints to the Orbán cabinet, influential Hungarian banks, investment funds and other investors. However, nobody is claiming that money back openly, which is quite strange. Hungary’s budget thrives on financial assets because its revenues decreased significantly due to the falling consumption following the European record Hungarian inflation. Therefore, the Orbán cabinet fights for each eurocent from the European Union. However, they remain silent concerning the IBB money.

Viktor Orbán did not mention this topic in his 21 December international press conference. Investors who lost their money may be angry but can only grumble in the background.

The Hungarian government left the bank last April after the American government introduced restrictions against it concerning even Hungarian citizens.

The bank stated last December that they would like to pay Hungarian investors back, but they cannot. That is because of the American sanctions, they argued. The USA froze all Russian assets after Putin attacked Ukraine in February 2022.

Want your money? Negotiate with America

According to the IBB’s statement, they tried to negotiate with the European institutions and authorities on the issue but could not reach agreement. Therefore, they recommended that all the the governments affected should lobby in Washington against the sanctions. For example, if the Orbán cabinet wants to retrieve its billions, they should convince the Biden administration to abolish the anti-Moscow sanctions. That is, of course, impossible.

The Hungarian government expressed several times that the EU and US sanctions against Russia are pointless and will not halt the war, but it would put an extra burden on the struggling European economy. However, all that criticism met rejection and outrage from Brussels and Washington. We wrote about the American-Hungarian relationship in THIS article in the early morning today.

The Ambassador of the United States in Budapest, David Pressman, announced after a Washington visit that America put the three leaders of the IBB on the sanctions list. That included a Hungarian national, too. The diplomat highlighted then that Washington warned the Orbán cabinet about the threats the IBB’s headquarters in Budapest poses, but the Hungarian government rejected them. Finally, Hungary withdrew from the financial institution on 13 April last year.

Pressman has been a target of the government-close media since he took his office in Budapest. Arguments between him and the Orbán cabinet became regular. Lastly, he said that the Hungarian government approaches national security interests differently than other European states and the United States, which is worrisome.

Apart from Russia, Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam remained members of the IIB. Before, Slovakia, Czechia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary announced their departure from it.

The IIB should have paid back HUF 15 billion (EUR 40 million) to its Hungarian investors by last September. For example, there is a Hungarian bank that should get HUF 1 billion back from the IIB by this spring. Furthermore, according to the estimates of Népszava, the IIB should pay back HUF 74 billion (EUR 195 million) to the Hungarian state for its 25.27 percent share.

Read also:

• Suspicious: Intelligence links found in four Russian companies operating in Hungary – Read more HERE
• Number of Russian diplomats increased in Hungary after the war began – Details in THIS article