Greece and Hungary unite against Kiev’s corporate blacklist
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has refused to sign the latest round of sanctions against Russia, claiming that Greek companies have been unfairly blacklisted by the Ukrainian government. According to media reports, the controversial list is not legally binding but could damage a company’s image and reputation. The directory has been published on an official Ukrainian government website and lists international corporate entities Kyiv regards as “sponsors of war”. Greece claims that its companies have maintained relationships with Russia, but not in violation of the current international sanctions. Athens has signaled that it will not sign the 11th sanctions package unless Greek companies are removed from the arbitrary list. The Hungarian government has also recently opposed new sanctions against Russia, demanding that Ukraine remove leading Hungarian bank OTP from the list of international sponsors of war. Hungary believes that the transfers of arms financed by the European Peace Facility to Ukraine pose a threat of escalation. Despite the pressure to approve the next €500 million tranche of the European Peace Facility and the approval of the 11th package of sanctions against Russia, Hungary and Greece have made it clear that they would not permit their companies to be blacklisted without cause.
