Ukraine's Oschadbank seeks return of vehicles, valuables seized in Hungary
Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank said on March 7 that it will pursue legal action to recover bank property still held in Hungary after the recent detention of its employees and armored vehicles.
In a statement published on Facebook, the bank said that although the seven staff members detained by Hungarian authorities have returned home, “the vehicles and valuables remain unlawfully detained.”
The bank outlined two legal avenues it plans to pursue, including appealing restrictive measures imposed by Hungary’s migration authorities and investigating alleged violations of employees’ rights during their detention “for more than a day without access to legal aid and consular support.”
Oschadbank also said it will seek the return of its seized property, including “two cash-in-transit vehicles and valuables totaling $40 million, 35 million euros, and 9 kilograms of bank gold.”
The bank emphasized that the transport of funds complied with Ukrainian law and said documentation has already been submitted to the National Bank of Ukraine for review.
An independent international auditing firm may also be engaged to verify contracts and procedures related to the transit operation.
“Oschadbank demands the return of its cash-in-transit vehicles and the valuables they were transporting in full,” the bank said.
The incident follows the March 5 detention in Hungary of seven Oschadbank employees transporting cash and gold from Austria to Ukraine, a case Hungarian authorities claimed was linked to suspected money laundering.
Hungary's top diplomat even hinted at a "possible link to the Ukrainian war mafia," without providing evidence.
Ukrainian authorities blasted the move as "hostage-taking" and "state terrorism," fueling tension in already-strained Hungarian-Ukrainian relations.
In connection with the incident, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry warned Ukrainian citizens to avoid traveling to Hungary for safety reasons.
Tensions between Kyiv and Budapest have intensified in recent weeks amid a broader dispute over Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, which has been offline since late January after a Russian strike damaged infrastructure in western Ukraine.
Hungary, which relies heavily on the pipeline for crude imports, has accused Ukraine of deliberately blocking deliveries and has responded by vetoing EU sanctions and financial aid for Kyiv.
Analysts also link Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s increasingly confrontational rhetoric toward Ukraine to domestic political pressure ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary elections in April.
