MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga has accused Hungary of kidnapping seven Ukrainian citizens, who were bank employees.
Ukraine's Oschadbank stated that the seven cash collectors detained in Hungary were transporting $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kg of gold.
The Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration has opened a criminal case. The detainees are suspected of money laundering.
TASS has compiled the main facts about the situation.
Statements from Ukrainian side
- "Hungarian authorities have taken seven Ukrainian citizens hostage in Budapest," Sibiga wrote on social media.
- According to him, they are employees of the state-owned Oschadbank.
- The employees were traveling in two cash-in-transit vehicles between Austria and Ukraine, transporting funds and valuables as part of regular transfers between state-owned banks, he stated.
- Sibiga accused Hungary of stealing money and taking hostages.
- According to him, Kiev will also appeal to the EU "to clearly classify" Budapest's actions.
- Sibiga said that the Ukrainian authorities sent an official note to Hungary demanding the immediate release of the Ukrainian citizens.
- The National Bank of Ukraine announced on its Telegram channel that it is demanding an official explanation from Hungary for the reasons behind the detention.
Bank statement
- Ukraine's Oschadbank stated that the seven cash-in-transit guards detained in Hungary were transporting $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kg of gold.
- According to a statement published on the bank's website, two cash-in-transit vehicles with seven employees were detained in Hungary on March 5.
- The bank clarifies that the transportation of funds and valuables was carried out under an agreement with the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank.
- Oschadbank claims that, according to representatives of the Ukrainian embassy and a GPS signal, two cash-in-transit vehicles "are located in the center of Budapest, near one of the Hungarian law enforcement agencies."
- The bank is unaware of the employees' whereabouts.
Hungary’s statements
- Hungarian law enforcement agencies detained armored vehicles used to transport valuables from the Ukrainian Oschadbank on March 5.
- Law enforcement detained seven Ukrainian citizens, including a former general of the Ukrainian special service.
- The Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) has opened a criminal case against the detained Ukrainians.
- They are suspected of money laundering.
- Two armored vehicles used to transport cash were carrying a total of $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kg of gold from Austria to Ukraine, according to a statement from the NAV. The department reported that this year alone, more than $900 million, €420 million, and 146 kg of gold bullion have been transported through Hungary to Ukraine.
- The NAV is conducting an investigation under the Criminal Procedure Act with the assistance of the Counter-Terrorism Center.
- Earlier this morning, the Hungarian government announced the suspension of shipments of goods crucial to Ukraine through its territory.
- According to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, this decision was made in response to Kiev's blocking of Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline.
Conflict between Hungary and Ukraine
- Relations between Hungary and Ukraine have seriously deteriorated recently.
- On March 5, Vladimir Zelenskyy once again criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, threatening, among other things, to sic the Ukrainian military on him if Budapest continued to obstruct the EU's €90 billion "military loan" to Ukraine. Budapest took this step in response to Kiev's blocking Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline.
- By blocking the pipeline, Ukrainian authorities are attempting to pressure Hungary to reconsider its position on the conflict and not interfere with Ukraine's accession to the European Union.
- The Hungarian government has repeatedly stated that it will not agree to the hasty admission of its neighboring country to the EU and will not send its citizens' money to it.
- The Ukrainian command is forcibly sending Hungarians mobilized into the Ukrainian armed forces to the most intense sections of the front with no prospect of return, Ruslan Itkulov, a captured Ukrainian National Guard fighter, told TASS.
- Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reported that the charge d'affaires of the Hungarian Embassy in Kiev was summoned to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with the release of two ethnic Hungarians who fought in the Ukrainian armed forces from Russian captivity.