BUDAPEST, June 24. /TASS/. Hungary will block the allocation of 6.5 billion euros from the European Peace Facility to Ukraine until discrimination against Hungarian business companies ends in that country, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, said.

"Today I made it clear that until the Ukrainian authorities end discrimination against Hungarian companies, there can be no question of allocating the amount of 6.5 billion euros from the peace fund for Ukraine," Szijjarto said at a meeting with Hungarian journalists in Luxembourg after the meeting of the EU foreign ministers.

He noted that attempts to prosecute the largest Hungarian pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter continue in Ukraine, which does not suit the local authorities only because it continues to operate in Russia.

According to the minister, they want to deprive it of licenses, that is, to block its access to the Ukrainian market. Previously, the Ukrainian authorities included the largest Hungarian bank OTP, which also operates in Russia, in the list of "international war sponsors".

Szijjarto stressed that neither OTP nor Gedeon Richter, operating in both Ukraine and Russia, violate any international rules or EU sanctions.

"Therefore, it is obvious that the introduction of measures against them is a purely political action, and this is unacceptable," the Foreign Minister said.

Hungary has long objected to the use of funds from the European Peace Facility to assist Ukraine, since the country's authorities have not eliminated the threat of including Hungarian companies on its list of "international war sponsors."

At one time, OTP ended up on the Ukrainian blacklist, and then was removed from it, but Hungary remains concerned that such incidents will be repeated. Budapest demanded guarantees from Kiev that a similar situation would not arise again, but its demands were not met.

Moreover, in recent months, attempts have been made in Ukraine to impose a ban on the activities of other Hungarian companies that continue to operate in Russia. The Hungarian government has warned that until the Ukrainian authorities abandon their discriminatory practices, there will be no consent to the use of the European Peace Facility. Funds from there go to compensate the costs of EU countries for the supply of weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian army.