Viktor Orban ordered seizure of Ukrainian gold shipment for political reasons, media reports

Hungary's government under ex-Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered the detention of a Ukrainian bank convoy without a professional justification and for political reasons, according to an investigation by Hungarian outlet Telex published on June 3.

In early March, Hungarian authorities seized two bank vehicles traveling from Austria to Ukraine carrying a shipment of cash and gold worth about $82 million, claiming they are investigating alleged money laundering.

Hungary also briefly detained employees of the Ukrainian state bank, Oschadbank, who were accompanying the shipment, before releasing them the next day. Kyiv has rejected all accusations and described the seizure as "state terrorism."

According to Telex's undisclosed sources familiar with the matter, the seizure was pre-planned and carried out at the order of "higher authorities."

Orban, Hungary's Kremlin-friendly ex-leader, ordered the raid as retaliation for the suspension of Russian oil transit to Hungary via the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline, sources told Telex.

While Ukraine said the oil transit was suspended due to a Russian strike against a Druzhba-linked facility in January, Budapest accused Kyiv of deliberately withholding transit. The oil flow was resumed in late April.

The detention request came through Hungarian intelligence and security services, which flagged "suspicious" circumstances surrounding the convoy.

These reportedly included discrepancies between different language versions of relevant documents and the alleged intelligence background of one of the Ukrainian staff members traveling with the convoy.

Telex notes that none of the "suspicious" circumstances were unlawful, but the Hungarian government nevertheless used them to build a case.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.

Both Ukrainian and Austrian authorities said similar bank transfers are a common and legal practice. Kyiv further stressed that cash transport by land has become increasingly common due to Russia's all-out invasion.

Hungary eventually returned the seized valuables in early May, weeks after Orban's Fidesz party was defeated in the parliamentary elections by Peter Magyar's Tisza.

Following Telex's investigation, Magyar, who has replaced Orban as Hungary's prime minister, urged his predecessor to "take responsibility."

"Viktor Orban personally exercised direct control over law enforcement and intelligence agencies," Magyar said on X.