Ukraine has accused Hungary of engaging in “state terrorism” and has rejected any form of intimidation after Hungarian authorities withheld approximately €71 million in cash and gold belonging to Ukraine’s state-owned bank.
On Thursday, Hungarian officials detained seven employees of Ukraine’s state savings bank, Oschadbank, who were transporting €35 million, $40 million, and 9 kilograms of gold by road.
Despite the employees being released the following day, Hungarian authorities retained the vehicles and the funds.
“It is now the fourth day that the €71 million in cash and gold have not been returned,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told TVP World. He described the situation as “state racketeering and state terrorism,” saying that a valuable shipment, legally transported from Austria to Ukraine in compliance with international standards, had been unlawfully seized by Hungary.
“Ukraine does not accept ultimatums or blackmail,” Sybiha said, adding that he believes Hungary is exploiting the situation for domestic political purposes amid its parliamentary election campaign, where Ukraine has become a contentious issue between the two main political forces.
In an earlier post on X, Sybiha urged European partners to condemn what he called “this unprecedented act of state banditry and racketeering” and called on them to speak out.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó defended the decision to withhold the funds.
Szijjártó stated that authorities are investigating the reasons for transporting such large amounts of cash and gold through Hungary.
“Since January, $900 million and €420 million in cash, along with 146 kilograms of gold, have passed through Hungary. If these were legitimate interbank transactions, why were they not conducted via bank transfers? Why transport such vast sums in cash across our territory?” He wrote on Friday.
Relations have been strained in recent weeks because of a dispute over disruptions to the Druzhba pipeline, which delivers Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. These two countries remain the only EU member states still importing Russian oil under existing sanctions.
In a statement released Saturday, Oschadbank announced it would initiate legal proceedings over what it called “the incident in Hungary.” The bank outlined two avenues of action: first, challenging the restrictive measures imposed by Hungary’s migration authorities on members of its cash collection team; and second, taking legal steps to recover its seized assets. Oschadbank said it is confident that its actions were entirely lawful and added that it plans to commission an independent audit by an international firm.
