- Category
- World
Hungarian PM Orders Investigation into Seizure of Ukrainian Oschadbank Convoy
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has announced that an investigation will be launched in Hungary into the actions of certain state bodies in connection with the seizure of Ukrainian cash-in-transit personnel and funds belonging to Oschadbank.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Magyar made the statement on social media platform X on June 17.
“We have instructed an immediate internal investigation within the National Tax and Customs Administration, the Counter-Terrorism Centre, and other relevant bodies in connection with the case of the Ukrainian ‘gold convoy’. The Prosecutor General must immediately address this issue,” Magyar wrote regarding the case.
We have ordered an immediate internal investigation at the National Tax and Customs Administration, the Counter Terrorism Centre, and the other relevant authorities in connection with the Ukrainian "gold convoy" case.
— Magyar Péter (Ne féljetek) (@magyarpeterMP) June 17, 2026
The Prosecutor General must address the matter without delay.
Hungarian authorities,acting under the direction of then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, have detained an armoured cash-in-transit convoy carrying millions of dollars in cash and gold while it was en route between Austria and Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s National Bank and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 5.
The convoy was reportedly conducting a routine transfer of valuables between Raiffeisen Bank International in Austria and Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank.
According to Ukrainian officials, two armoured vehicles belonging to Oschadbank were stopped by Hungarian law enforcement while transporting a large shipment of foreign currency and precious metals.
Seven bank employees travelling with the convoy are currently unaccounted for, Ukrainian authorities said.
Officials added that GPS tracking data suggests the vehicles may be located in central Budapest.
Oschadbank estimates that the convoy was carrying $40 million, €35 million, and around nine kilograms of gold at the time of the detention.
The bank said the shipment was organised under an agreement between Raiffeisen Bank International and Oschadbank and was being transported in line with European Union customs procedures and international transit regulations.
Two months later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed the successful return of Oschadbank funds and valuables that had been seized by Hungarian special services.
The assets were confiscated in March 2026 during an incident in which the Hungarian side “unlawfully detained” Ukrainian cash transport personnel.
While the bank employees were released shortly after the incident, the seized financial assets remained under Hungarian control until now.
“We returned the people faster, and now the funds and valuables are already on Ukrainian territory in full,” Zelenskyy said, calling the resolution an “important step in relations with Hungary.”
Despite the fact that an official investigation has not yet been launched, reports allege that Hungary’s raid on a Ukrainian cash-and-gold convoy was personally ordered by Viktor Orbán, who reportedly set the timing of the operation himself, despite the absence of any professional justification for such action.
The account was reported by Telex on June 3, which cited weeks of background conversations with individuals directly involved in the operation or familiar with the events leading up to it.
Discuss this article:
-457ad7ae19a951ebdca94e9b6bf6309d.png)
-c439b7bd9030ecf9d5a4287dc361ba31.jpg "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
