Ukraine accuses Hungary of seizing cash and gold shipment, detaining bank staff

Ukraine on Friday accused Hungary of detaining seven employees of the state-owned Oschadbank and seizing millions in cash and gold.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the seven Ukrainians were transporting funds between Austria and Ukraine as part of a routine banking operation when Hungarian authorities stopped the convoy in Budapest.

“In fact, we are talking about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money,” Sybiha wrote on X. “If this is the ‘force’ announced earlier today by Mr. Orbán, then it is the force of a criminal gang. This is state terrorism and racketeering.”

Kyiv has sent a diplomatic note demanding the immediate release of the employees and said it will ask the European Union to provide a legal assessment of Hungary’s actions.

In an update later Friday, Sybiha said Ukrainian consuls have not been granted access to the seven detainees. “The Hungarian side has not provided any explanation,” he wrote. “We demand their immediate release and prepare next actions, including at the EU level.”

Oschadbank said two armored vehicles were detained during a regular transfer between Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank and the Ukrainian state lender. The shipment included $40 million, €35 million and 9 kilograms of gold, the bank said.

GPS data shows the vehicles are located in central Budapest near a Hungarian security facility, according to Oschadbank. The whereabouts of the seven employees remain unknown.

Officials familiar with the situation, granted anonymity to speak freely, told POLITICO the vehicles were located on the grounds of Hungary’s anti-terrorism center in Budapest.

The incident comes amid a rapidly escalating dispute between Kyiv and Budapest over oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Russian crude to Hungary and Slovakia and has been disrupted after a January drone attack damaged infrastructure in Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accused Kyiv of blocking oil supplies and vowed Thursday to “break the Ukrainian oil blockade by force.” Speaking on a radio show Friday morning, Orbán warned: “We will also stop things that are important to Ukraine passing through Hungary.”

Hungary’s Interior Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Veronika Melkozerova contributed to this report.