Hungary’s $82 million bank transit swoop deepens spat with Ukraine

2026-03-07 - 10:03

Reuters — Hungary said on Friday it had ⁠detained seven Ukrainians carrying around $82 million in cash and gold on suspicion of money laundering, as Kyiv ​accused Budapest of taking bank employees hostage amid a dispute over oil shipments. The Hungarian Tax Authority’s decision to have counter-terrorism forces swoop on two Ukrainian armored vehicles transporting cash to Ukraine marks a dramatic escalation of tensions that have already resulted in Budapest blocking tens of billions of euros in European Union aid for Kyiv. “The National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) is pursuing criminal proceedings on suspicion of money laundering,” the authority said in a ⁠statement. “On March 5, 2026, it detained seven Ukrainian citizens, including a former Ukrainian intelligence service general, and two armored cash-in-transit vehicles, which were transporting a total ​of $40 million, 35 million euros and nine kilograms of gold from Austria to Ukraine.” The tax authority said it was working together with counter-terrorism forces. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Kyiv must provide answers regarding cash transits across Hungary. Government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs ⁠said the seven detainees would be expelled from Hungary. It was not immediately clear what would happen to the money they were transporting. Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary, Sandor Fegyir, went to the Budapest headquarters of the Counter-Terrorism Centre to try and meet with the detained Ukrainians, two Reuters witnesses said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the people detained were employees of Oschadbank. “In fact, we are talking about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money,” Sybiha wrote on X. “This is state terrorism and racketeering.” He said Ukraine had sent ⁠an official note demanding the immediate release of its citizens and would ask the European Union to “provide a clear qualification of Hungary’s unlawful actions”. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry later advised Ukrainian citizens against travel to Hungary, saying it could not guarantee ‌their safety amid what it called the “arbitrary actions” of Hungarian authorities. Hungary and Slovakia accuse ​Ukraine of deliberately delaying the resumption of oil flows via the damaged Druzhba pipeline for political reasons. Kyiv denies the charge, saying it needs time to repair the damage caused to energy infrastructure by a Russian drone strike on January 27. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who ​faces a serious challenge ⁠to his 16-year rule in an election on April 12, has made ‌the war in Ukraine a central plank of his campaign, saying the opposition would drag Hungary into the ⁠conflict. He has vetoed new EU sanctions on Moscow as well as a huge loan for Ukraine over the oil dispute. Sybiha wrote on X that Kyiv demanded “Hungary stop dragging Ukraine into its domestic politics and electoral campaign.” Orban accused Kyiv of blackmail and said Hungary would use all means at its disposal until oil flows resume. “We have stopped... diesel exports to Ukraine, we still maintain power exports, and we will stop transit shipments going through Hungary that are important for Ukraine... until we get Ukraine’s approval for the oil shipments,” Orban told state radio. He did ⁠not refer to the detention of the bank employees. The Ukrainian savings bank said its employees had been engaged in a routine operation, “in accordance ‌with an international agreement with Raiffeisen Bank, Austria.” “Since the start of the full-scale invasion, foreign currency and bank metals have been transported exclusively by land,” it said in a statement. “Similar trips are carried out by Oschadbank’s cash ⁠collection vehicles on a weekly basis.” Raiffeisen International declined to comment on the ​matter, citing banking secrecy rules.