Hungary kidnapped the cash-in-transit team of the state-owned Oschadbank, along with the cash and gold they were transporting.
The National Bank of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this.
The cash-in-transit team was transporting valuables between Austria and Ukraine in two vehicles.
The incident occurred on Thursday, March 5, during a regular transportation of cash and bank metals between Raiffeisen Bank International and the Ukrainian state-owned bank.
The exact time and location of the event have not been specified. It has only been mentioned that seven cash-in-transit officers, along with two vehicles, were detained by Hungarian law enforcement authorities.
According to Oschadbank’s calculations, the value of the goods in the stolen vehicles amounted to $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kg of gold.
“The cash-in-transit team consisted of seven bank employees. Their whereabouts are currently unknown, and mobile communication is unavailable. According to GPS data, the Oschadbank vehicles may be located in the center of Budapest,” stated the National Bank of Ukraine in its statement.
Oschadbank stated that the cargo they were transporting was properly documented in accordance with international transportation rules and the customs procedures of the European Union.
By the morning of March 6, sources from European Pravda reported that the stolen cash-in-transit vehicles had been hidden in a secured area of Hungary’s Anti-Terrorism Center.
This is a law enforcement agency under the control of the Hungarian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that Budapest has no intention of compromising on the restoration of Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline.
In his address, he stated that Hungary would “break through the Ukrainian oil blockade by force.”
