The International Investment Bank (IIB) says it will leave its headquarters in Budapest and return to Russia after the Hungarian government withdrew its representatives from the Moscow-led institution after the United States imposed sanctions on three IIB officials.
"Due to the de-facto termination of Hungary's membership in International Investment Bank, IIB has exhausted basis for further operations from its headquarters in Budapest and in the European Union," the IIB said in a statement on its website on April 19.
"The Bank has commenced a relocation of its operations and functions of its headquarters from Hungary to Russia," it added.
On April 12, the United States imposed sanctions on more than 100 people and entities in a move aimed at further curbing Russia’s access to the international financial system through facilitators and their businesses.
The sanctions, announced by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), were aimed at taking "action against Russia and those supporting its war in Ukraine," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
OFAC said the sanctions included on Russian financial facilitators and sanctions evaders in Turkey, Hungary, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, and China.
The Hungarian individuals designated by the United States are three executives of the IIB: its president, Nyikolay Koszov; IIB Vice-President Imre Laszlóczki; and Georgij Potapov, the deputy chairman of the board of governors of the institution.
Prior to the sanctions, Washington had been critical of Budapest for not banning Russian diplomats, who were said to move around in Hungary in large numbers, partly thanks to the presence of the IIB.
