Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called on Hungary to immediately return the detained property and valuables of Oschadbank, and Kyiv's partners to express their position on this incident.
X wrote about the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs on social media.
“Today marks the third day since Hungarian authorities robbed two Ukrainian armored bank cars traveling from Austria and stole money and precious metals in broad daylight,” Szybiga's post reads.
He stressed that this money does not belong to Hungary or its government, but to the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, i.e. Ukrainian taxpayers. Szybiga called on Budapest to immediately return the property and funds of the Ukrainian financial institution, and on its partners to speak out and condemn this act of “state banditry and racketeering” at the European level.
On March 7, Oschadbank announced that it would demand from the Hungarian authorities the return of its property and valuables that remain in Hungary.
What is known about the detention of Oschadbank employees in Hungary?
On the night of March 6, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga announced that Hungarian authorities had seized seven Oschadbank employees who were traveling with money on a collection flight from Austria.
Oschadbank confirmed that its employees have disappeared in Hungary, and its collection vehicles and valuables have been seized. According to GPS data, the financial institution's vehicles are currently parked in the center of Budapest, near a building of one of the Hungarian law enforcement agencies.
The state bank also noted that their employees were transporting money and valuables in fulfillment of an international agreement with the Austrian Raiffeisenbank. The cargo was registered in accordance with international transportation rules and current European customs procedures. The amount of valuables in the detained cars amounted to 40 million US dollars, 35 million euros and 9 kilograms of gold.
Informed sources told Suspilny that the seized collection vehicles are currently in the closed territory of the local Anti-Terrorism Center.
The Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration later confirmed the detention of seven Ukrainians on suspicion of “money laundering.” They also claim that the Hungarian side immediately informed the Ukrainian consulate about the start of the investigation.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the detention of seven Oschadbank collectors by Hungarian law enforcement officers “arbitrary” and recommended that Ukrainians refrain from traveling to Hungary “due to the impossibility of guaranteeing their safety.”
The Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pyshny, stated that the department's team is urgently going on a business trip to the Hungarian capital, Budapest, to clarify the situation regarding the seizure of Oschadbank's collection teams.
He also stated that the transportation of currency values by Ukrainian banks is carried out in accordance with international standards and has no violations.
On the evening of March 6, seven detained collectors returned to Ukraine. Despite claims of “money laundering,” Hungary did not detain the Ukrainians who were transporting the funds. The valuables remain on Hungarian territory.