Ukraine’s state Oschadbank has received a shipment of Ukrainian cash and gold worth around $82 million that Hungary seized earlier this year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday, bringing an episode that had inflamed tensions between the neighbors.
Zelenskyy said the return followed a dispute that began when Hungarian authorities detained the shipment on March 5 while it was being transported through Hungary by two armored cars. The president said the transfer back to Oschadbank was “an important step in relations with Hungary” after Viktor Orbán’s defeat in a landslide election last month, which Ukraine said raised hopes for a less antagonistic policy toward Kyiv.
In his message, Zelenskyy added: “I am grateful to Hungary for its constructive approach and civilized step,” and he thanked members of Ukraine’s team who “fought for a fair decision and defended the interests of our state and our people.” He said the return reflects the latest shift after Orbán’s political loss.
At the time of the seizure, Hungarian authorities said they suspected money laundering and ordered the shipment, which included $40 million and 35 million euros in cash as well as 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds) of gold, to be held in custody for up to 60 days while Hungary’s tax authority investigated. The cash and gold were transported for a routine transfer of assets between state banks, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s bank employees who traveled with the shipment were held by Hungarian authorities for more than 24 hours before being expelled from the country, Zelenskyy’s account and the earlier reporting described. Hungary’s tax authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment in the days around the seizure.
Ukrainian officials said the shipment was routine and accused Orbán’s government of blackmailing Kyiv as pressure to restore interrupted Russian oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline, which had been damaged by a Russian drone strike. The Ukrainian officials said the dispute unfolded as Hungary and Ukraine already had a bitter feud over Hungary’s access to Russian oil through the pipeline crossing Ukrainian territory.
Orbán, meanwhile, directed the tax authority to determine the origin, destination and intended use of the shipment and to identify the seven expelled Ukrainians and “their possible links to criminal or terrorist organizations.” Orbán also suggested, without providing evidence, that the shipment may have been intended to fund his primary political opponent, the center-right Tisza party, which won a two-thirds majority in parliament during last month’s election.
The cash-and-gold fight also played out against a broader energy and diplomacy backdrop. The reporting said Hungary had blocked a major European Union loan of 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine over the interruption of Russian oil via Druzhba, but after oil flows resumed following Orbán’s electoral defeat, Hungary lifted its veto and allowed the loan to go through.