Hungary to hold up G7 loan to Ukraine until after US election

By Jan Strupczewski

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Hungary will hold up a final deal on a $50 billion G7 loan to Ukraine until after the U.S. presidential election by delaying its decision on the timing of the renewal of EU sanctions against Russia, Hungary’s finance minister said.

Washington needs the EU to revise its timeframe for the renewal of sanctions to every three years from the current six months for it to contribute some $20 billion to the G7 loan, matching the European Union’s contribution, EU officials said.

The remaining $10 billion would be provided by G7 members Canada, Britain and Japan, who are already on board.

The loan, agreed in principle by G7 leaders in June, would be serviced with proceeds generated by some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets frozen in the West after Moscow invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

Washington does not want to worry every six months whether the Russian assets backing the loan will remain frozen or not, the officials said.

“We believe that this issue, the prolongation of the Russian sanctions, should be decided after the U.S. elections. We have to see in which direction the future U.S. administration is going with this issue,” Finance Minister Mihaly Varga told a news conference.

The European Union has said that the proceeds from all the Russian assets frozen in the West can finance a loan of up to 45 billion euros ($49.44 billion).

Because most of the assets are in Europe, the EU said it can provide up to 35 billion euros for the G7 loan. That amount would be reduced by the sum the United States would contribute.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga speaks during an interview with Reuters in Budapest, Hungary July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Krisztina Than/File Photo

The issue will be further discussed at the G7 finance ministers meeting in Washington in late October, but Hungary’s decision means that the final contributions of each of the G7 countries will only be decided after the Nov. 5 election.

($1=0.9102 euros)

Note: This article have been indexed to our site. We do not claim legitimacy, ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original source Click Here

Related Posts
Processo criminal da tragédia em Brumadinho pode voltar à estaca zero thumbnail

Processo criminal da tragédia em Brumadinho pode voltar à estaca zero

Passados exatos três anos da tragédia em Brumadinho (MG), a tramitação do processo criminal pode voltar à estaca zero depois que o Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) considerou, mais de uma vez, que a Justiça estadual não tem competência para analisar o caso.O processo seria assim federalizado, o que ainda será analisado pelo Supremo Tribunal…
Read More
‎Alkhabeer REIT plans 1.25% dividend for Q4 2021 thumbnail

‎Alkhabeer REIT plans 1.25% dividend for Q4 2021

Alkhabeer REIT Fund will pay a 1.25% cash dividend for the period from Oct. 1 until Dec. 31, 2021, at SAR 0.125 per unit, amounting to SAR 17.63 million, fund manager, Alkhabeer Capital, said in a bourse statement today, Jan. 31. The dividend represents 1.474% of net asset value (NAV) as of Dec. 31, 2021.…
Read More
Behind the wheel: navigating Europe’s driver shortage thumbnail

Behind the wheel: navigating Europe’s driver shortage

It’s a growing problem that has the potential to disrupt supply chains and put the brakes on Europe’s economy.  Amid rising demand for freight transportation, Europe’s driver shortage poses a huge challenge that could turn into a major crisis if left unaddressed. According to a survey by International Road Transport Union (IRU) across 15 European
Read More
Index Of News