Hungary’s $105m swoop on bank transit vehicles deepens spat with Ukraine

BUDAPEST/KYIV – Hungary said on March 6 that it had detained seven Ukrainians carrying around US$82 million (S$105 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 armoured vehicles transporting cash to Ukraine marks a dramatic escalation of tensions that have resulted in Budapest blocking tens of billions of euros in European Union aid for Kyiv.

Video footage posted on the Hungarian government’s Facebook account shows armed counter-terrorism officers jumping out of a van as the Ukrainian vehicles pull into a service station. The officers point their guns at the windscreen before handcuffing the people inside and forcing them to lie face down on the ground.

“The National Tax and Customs Administration 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 armoured cash-in-transit vehicles, which were transporting a total of US$40 million, €35 million and 9kg 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 spokesman Zoltan Kovacs later 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, Mr Sandor Fegyir, went to the Budapest headquarters of the Counter-Terrorism Centre to try to meet the detained Ukrainians, two Reuters witnesses said.

Hungary ‘taking hostages and stealing money’

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,” Mr Sybiha wrote on X.

“This is state terrorism and racketeering.”

He said Ukraine had demanded the immediate release of its citizens and would ask the EU to “provide a clear qualification of Hungary’s unlawful actions”.

Ukraine also advised its citizens against travel to Hungary, saying it could not guarantee their safety amid what it called the “arbitrary actions” of Hungarian authorities.

Hungary’s Orban vows more pressure on Kyiv

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 Jan 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.

Mr Sybiha wrote on X that Kyiv demanded “Hungary stop dragging Ukraine into its domestic politics and electoral campaign”.

Speaking on state radio, Mr Orban again accused Kyiv of blackmail and said Hungary would use all means at its disposal until oil flows resume.

He did not mention the detention of the Ukrainians.

Ukraine’s Oschadbank said its employees had been engaged in a routine operation.

“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.” REUTERS